The question that was bothering us and which was difficult to understand the Azerbaijani society, was that three of the five countries of the permanent members of the UN Security Council held these resolutions (on the Karabakh conflict-in-country), were also co-chairs of the OSCE MG. They themselves adopted these resolutions and they had a mandate for their implementation. As Azerdead reports, this was stated by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at a meeting with the new resident coordinator of the UN in Azerbaijan, Andreva.
“But, unfortunately, for 28 years, the Minsk Group missed many opportunities. I raised the question of applying sanctions against Armenia. Because I assumed that this could be a way to prevent war.
We wanted to solve the question in a peaceful way. Last year, just a few days before the war, speaking at the General Assembly, I warned the international community that Armenia is preparing for war. It was not propaganda, but the result of a real analysis of the behavior of Armenia in the pre-war months.
Unfortunately, I was right. Therefore, if against Armenia, sanctions were used in a timely manner, if the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, three leading countries of the world used at least 5 percent of their potential to convince or force Armenia to bring their occupation forces, the war would not have happened. Therefore, responsibility for war lies not only in Armenia, but also on those who could not or did not want to force it to comply with international law.
As a result, Azerbaijan himself implemented these resolutions within the framework of international law. We have restored justice and norms of international law. We acted, guided by the UN Charter. Article 51 recognizes the right of each country to self-defense. Thus, using all international instruments, we restored our territorial integrity, “said the head of state.