Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has a much stronger army, and he seized the moment to take back what was his, said US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, commenting on US President Donald Trump’s efforts to normalize Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.

According to Witkoff, during the meeting in the White House Oval Office on August 8, Trump asked Aliyev: “Why did you stop? You had a large army, victory was with you.” And the Azerbaijani president responded: “I returned what was taken from us [i.e. referring to Nagorno-Karabakh]. There is no need for more.”

The US special envoy added that it was a “wise and restrained decision,” and said Aliyev was an example of a “true statesman.”