Aliyev says he achieved peace with Armenia by force

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has  praised the ongoing peace process with Armenia, saying that ‘there is nothing better than peace’. However, moments before, he said that Azerbaijan had ‘achieved peace with Armenia first by force, and then by political means’.

The remarks came during his speech at the opening of the Global Baku Forum.

In the speech, as published by pro-government media outlet APA, Aliyev criticized UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories, saying they had ‘remained on paper for almost 30 years’.

He then spoke about the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, saying it is ‘sometimes necessary to use force to achieve peace’ if there was ‘no hope for a peaceful solution’.

‘And that is exactly what happened. We achieved peace with Armenia first by force, and then by political means’, Aliyev said.

Aliyev then praised the ‘unprecedented speed’ at which the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan was moving, attributing it to ‘strong political will and the understanding that eternal hostility is impossible and war must definitely end’.

‘We have been living in peace for seven months and we see its advantages. I have said many times and I will get tired of saying that there is nothing better than peace’, Aliyev said.

Separately, Aliyev said that the emergence of ‘new hotbeds of tensions and ongoing long-term conflict’ worldwide posed a threat to international relations and law.

He argued that the ‘experience of a country that was invaded, experienced ethnic cleansing and genocide, but later restored its sovereignty, territorial integrity and dignity through force, and then offered peace to a defeated enemy, is, in my opinion, an important experience that can be shared with the international community’.

He criticized the OSCE Minsk Group, the platform created to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling it a ‘failure’, and saying that its goal ‘was not to resolve the conflict, but to freeze it and use it as a lever of influence on both countries’.

The dissolution of the Minsk Group was one of Azerbaijan’s primary preconditions for a peace agreement with Armenia. It was dissolved in September 2025.

Aliyev also spoke about trade with Armenia, saying that his country had removed all restrictions on the transport of goods — including petrol.

He said that Azerbaijan and Armenia were cooperating to ‘create a new branch of the Middle Corridor’, which will allow Armenia to ‘become a transit country for the first time in its history of independence’.