On the initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a meeting via videoconferencing has today been held between him and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev provided information about the military provocation committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan yesterday. He noted that on 27 September, Armenia used heavy artillery to fire on the positions of Azerbaijan's Armed Forces and residential areas located along the Line of Contact. Azerbaijani civilians and servicemen were killed due to the attack. The Azerbaijani side is conducting a successful counter-offensive operation in self-defense.

The head of state emphasized that this was not the first time the Armenian side had perpetrated a military provocation. In particular, the occupying country carried out a similar provocation on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border this July. In August, an Armenian subversion group attempted to cross the Line of Contact. Simultaneously, Armenia is illegally resettling foreign nationals from other countries in Azerbaijan's occupied territories, representing a flagrant violation of international law under the Geneva Convention.

The President of Azerbaijan also noted that Armenia's prime minister had created armed groups of volunteers consisting of tens of thousands of civilians being forced to participate in military operations against Azerbaijan.

During the conversation, President Ilham Aliyev said he had spoken of Armenia's preparations for a new war in his speech at the UN General Assembly's 75th session's general debates.

The head of state said that the Armenian leadership had been deliberately derailing the negotiations. The Armenian leadership's statement that "Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia" dealt a severe blow to the talks. The statement that "Azerbaijan should negotiate with Nagorno-Karabakh" is an attempt to change the negotiations' format, which is also unacceptable, as confirmed by the leadership of the Minsk Group.

President Ilham Aliyev said that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved in line with the international law and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, based on relevant UN Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories.

During the conversation, the parties also recalled the Special Session of the UN General Assembly in response to COVID-19 initiated by Azerbaijan. The head of state thanked the UN Secretary-General for supporting this initiative. President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan would continue to spare no effort in the international arena to combat COVID-19.

During the videoconference, the parties also discussed issues related to the prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN.