Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the country must be "ten times stronger" than Armenia "every day," explaining this by the need to maintain military superiority even after the initialing of a peace agreement between the two countries. He outlined his position on October 2 at the 8th Congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in Baku.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili supported the protesters on Rustaveli Avenue against the draft law on foreign agents. She again announced that she would veto the bill.
Police in downtown Tbilisi fired rubber bullets and tear gas after the protesters threw incendiary bombs and stones at the policemen. Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has issued a statement on protests. " The group used various objects, including flammable agents, against the employees. Both participants and law enforcers suffered during the action," the Ministry said in a statement.
Spokesman for the State Department Ned Price said that those responsible for the suppression of protests in Georgia may be sanctioned by the United States. "We have a number of tools that can hold anyone in any country accountable for interfering in the realization of what is a universal human right," said Ned Price at the briefing. In addition, he said, the adoption of the law on foreign agents in Georgia "may endanger the partnership between Washington and Tbilisi".