Azerbaijan and Armenia are closer to peace than ever, but unfortunately, they are preventing it.

Axar.az reports that Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan - head of the foreign policy affairs department of the Presidential Administration, said this in an interview with China's "Phoenix" TV channel.

H. Hajiyev said that until this situation was reached, Azerbaijan had to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty following Article 51 of the UN Charter:

"Azerbaijan had to do it. Because we were faced with double standards, foreign military aggression and the policy of military occupation, as well as the promotion of separatism. Again, this was unacceptable for Azerbaijan, like any other country.

We have ensured peace and security. Now Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer to peace than ever before. In the last six months, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been one of the calmest periods in the history of the two countries."

"We (Azerbaijan and Armenia) are making progress on the peace agreement. Azerbaijan's approach is that peace is between Azerbaijan and Armenia because this region belongs to us. "Peace should be ensured in the South Caucasus region between the two countries, not in Washington, Brussels, Paris," he said.

According to H. Hajiyev, Baku and Yerevan should turn the page of the conflict and move forward, as well as strengthen responsibility for the peace agreement:

"Maybe it will be a long process."

The assistant of the president also noted that the goal of Azerbaijan is to turn the South Caucasus region into a region of peace and cooperation:

"Despite being the target of military occupation, we prepared the text of the peace agreement and formulated 5 fundamental principles of the peace agreement. We are moving forward, but unfortunately, certain politicians hurt regional cooperation and the peace agenda."