Armenia and Azerbaijan were not only part of the same state themselves, but are friendly to all others in the CIS space, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during the extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in response to questions raised by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Moreover, he stressed that the conflict issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved now - with Ilham Aliyev, a leader with whom it is possible to negotiate.
"The issue is very sensitive and scrupulous. It's not that, here, on the one hand - the CSTO and we, the members of the CSTO, and on the other hand - Azerbaijan. These are our friendly two countries. Yes, indeed, they were in one state. But more than that, we are members of the CIS together with Azerbaijan and Armenia. We have very close relations with Orthodox Armenia, which is close to us. And the Muslim state of Azerbaijan, which is very close to us. It is especially sensitive for other members of the CSTO, including the Russian Federation with its 30 million Muslims. That is, all nuances, all factors must be taken into account. And then, is Azerbaijan an enemy or an adversary for the heads of states and countries present here? No. I confirm what President Putin said, that both Armenia and Azerbaijan are brother countries to us. And this is the peculiarity of the situation. We can't ignore it," said the Belarusian leader.
The President considers that one should not ask questions about the CSTO and "are you with us or not?" on the one hand and Azerbaijan on the other hand. "This is wrong. Azerbaijan is headed today absolutely by our man - Ilham Aliyev. What will happen tomorrow (he is not eternal), no one knows. Therefore, these acute issues, which Nikol Vovayevich talks about, really need to be solved now. Under the current leadership of Azerbaijan," said Alexander Lukashenko. "No matter who's behind Azerbaijan's back. They say Turkey is there and so on. So what? It's politics. Turks support Azerbaijan because they are near and dear to them."
The President drew an analogy with the Belarusian-Russian relations in this regard: "So you can reproach Russia for supporting Belarus, and Belarus supports Russia. Well, because we are close, we are relatives, we support each other".
"Therefore, the issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be solved now," said Alexander Lukashenko.
