Aliyev Says Armenia Violated Ceasefire, Ready to Pause Fighting

On 19 October 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave a video interview to Russia's TASS news agency, as presented by Day.Az citing AZERTAG. Asked about Nagorno-Karabakh, he said Armenia had grossly violated the ceasefire agreed in Moscow, with the city of Ganja attacked at night and residential areas hit, causing many deaths and injuries.

Aliyev called the attack international terrorism, noting that the UN Secretary-General and the European Union had condemned it. He said Azerbaijan was ready to suspend military action if Armenia engaged constructively, and that Armenian statements contradicted the basic principles of the OSCE Minsk Group.

On a possible military-to-military meeting, he said political will was the priority and pointed to the announcement that day of the liberation of 13 settlements. On foreign peacekeepers, he said their composition, mandate and deployment must be agreed by Azerbaijan and Armenia, and that the ceasefire line no longer existed.