The Armenian Foreign Ministry says Azerbaijani President’s statements during the founding ceremony of the offshore operations of the “Absheron” field are deeply disappointing.

“They demonstrate the inability of the leader of the neighboring country to perceive soberly and without painful emotions the existing reality and his own role in the creation of that reality,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said in a statement.

The comments come after Aliyev “warned” Armenia to drop “its ugly plans” and threatened “serious consequences.”

Aliyev accused Armenia of “preparing for a new war” and concentrating forces near the line of contact.

“Such rhetoric, containing obviously groundless and even false allegations, does not dignify any head of state,” Naghdalyan said.

“We realize the damages inflicted by Azerbaijan on the peace process by the April 2016 aggression and the military escalation initiated in July 2020. In order to prevent these damages from becoming irreversible, the government of Azerbaijan should reconsider its policy of the use of force and threat of force, renounce its attempts to destabilize the regional peace and security by involving non-regional players, and prepare itself for a peaceful settlement,” the Spokesperson added.

She stressed that Armenia is confident in its capacities to protect the right of the people of Artsakh for self-determination and the right to live in their historical homeland, and reiterated that there is no alternative to the peaceful resolution of the conflict.