I want to say again – I have already spoken about this – we would have taken Lachin, Kalbajar and Agdam anyway. We had plans and we were consistently moving towards them. But everyone should know that Kalbajar and Lachin districts have a very difficult natural terrain.

Axar.az reports that the statement came from President Ilham Aliyev in his address to the nation.

"The road to Kalbajar district that existed in Soviet times passed through Aghdara district. In Soviet times, this district was called Mardakert and the Armenians lived there. There was no other road, one might say. Now we have entered Kalbajar from Goygol and Dashkasan districts. We could have suffered heavy losses, especially in winter, given the difficult terrain. We could have suffered great losses in liberating Aghdam, Lachin and Kalbajar districts. It would have taken a lot of time" - the President stated.