Łukašenka says he offered Armenia to hand over areas to Azerbaijan to avoid conflict

November 1, BPN. The war could have been avoided if Armenia had returned territories to Azerbaijan, Alaksandr Łukašenka told Stanisłaŭ Zaś, secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

“I addressed this issue once, I think when we [Belarus] were chairing the CSTO,” Łukašenka was quoted as saying by his press office. “We were talking about five and a half or six Azerbaijan’s districts that were, as they said, seized by the Armenians.”

Yerevan refused all offers, leaving the president of Azerbaijan with no other option but to solve the problem by force, Łukašenka said.

Now they have to finally reconcile, he noted. “Russia is taking care of this process there. So why are they killing each other now? Almost 300 people have been killed and they are still talking about something. They need to calm down and agree,” Łukašenka said.

Azerbaijan-Armenia tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 13. Yerevan accused Baku of serious violations of the ceasefire, while Baku accused Armenia of provoking it.