They have talked about the possible and necessary meeting of the leaders of the two states, which are in conflict situations for a long time. There has been some hope for bilateral relations to be settled after the political regime change by a result of events called "velvet revolution" in Armenia.
However, the expectations of both sides are different and totally contradictory. Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev said: "For the first time after a long break, an official meeting between the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Armenian leadership was organized by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. This once again confirms that the format of the negotiations remains unchanged, and the negotiation process is being conducted between Azerbaijan and Armenia."
The well-known Israeli expert Arye Gut told AZERTAC that the recent meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has once again confirmed that the format of the talks will not change, though the Armenian prime minister was very hopeful about it. This kind of lightheaded intentions of the leader of the "velvet revolution" in Armenia testifies the incompetence of the new prime minister, his lack of strategic thinking, and the utmost importance for great politics. Immediately after the meeting between President Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan in Vienna, Armenia's Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan made a provocative statement and said the format of "territories for peace" was changed. Tonoyan said: "As a defense minister, I have changed the format of" territories for peace ". We will do opposite to this: "A new war for new territories. There will be no concessions. Compromises are possible. We will get out of this state of entrenchment and constant protection."
According to Arye Gut, such statements will lead to the fact that the war will be the only way to achieve justice for Azerbaijan. The Israeli expert underlines: "Two months ago I was on the line of contact and I really felt the cease-fire regime was invalid. Unfortunately, populists who come from the street like Nikol Pashinyan and his defense minister, in fact, do not understand that today's strong and independent Azerbaijan is not the same country at the end of the 1990s. Everyone understands very well that the poor Armenia, which is in a poor position, could not occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory without the support of a third country. Azerbaijan's patience is exhausted. Official Baku has repeatedly stated and warned Armenia that it will never agree with the existing status quo. However, the harsh statements of the military and political leadership of Armenia show that they are worried, frightened and scared."
The expert stressed that the Azerbaijani Army is ready for any kind of actions on the frontline. He says: "Now the Azerbaijani Army means the strongest, most up-to-date equipment and weapons, the highest combat readiness, the discipline and the fighting spirit personnel. Differences in the financial opportunities of Azerbaijan and Armenia are reflected in the differences in their defense and attack potential. According to the official statistics of Globalpower.org, in terms of military, political and economic factors, including official Baku's sources of permanent public revenues, and the absence of such sources from Armenia, Azerbaijan's military power is 1.5 times higher than Armenia's defense capacity. Today, independent Azerbaijan can afford to invest in the defense sector of the country in the amount of the state budget of Armenia. History shows that those who have more advanced, high-tech materials for carrying out combat operations in modern warfare will win. It is enough to remember the effective use of Israel's unmanned attack drones against the Armenian invaders during the April 2016 operations, and we can talk a lot about it.
No one has forgotten that at the beginning of April 2016, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces responded to Armenia's military provocations and blew the Armenian army in order to ensure the security of its citizens. It is no secret that today Azerbaijan is the country with the most powerful and strongest in the South Caucasus. Armenian Prime Minister and Defense Minister know very well that the direct military confrontation with Azerbaijan will lead to the definitive bankruptcy and fiascos of Armenia. I do not want to compare Azerbaijan's military potential with Armenia, because it is completely incommensurable. I think Pashinyan will try to keep the situation intact because for him and for Armenia, unexpected results can occur."
According to A. Gut, the Vienna meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders once again showed that in the issue of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan holds a correct and constructive position that reflects the interests of both the country and the South Caucasus region.
In the interview with the TASS agency, The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev confirmed this approach and said it is necessary to bring the negotiation process to the fruitful results. He said: "The first priority for Azerbaijan is the liberation of occupied territories which is internationally recognized by international law, the Helsinki Final Act and the UN Security Council's four resolutions demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories." At the same time, despite progress in the negotiation process and the Armenian side's recent insistence, the format of the negotiation process is unchanged. President Ilham Aliyev said that the negotiation process was a new impetus.
