On January 7, President Ilham Aliyev stated in an interview with local TV channels that arming Armenia will only lead to new tensions. "Arming Armenia will simply lead to new tensions. We do not want this. We want peace. We want the war page to be closed. However, we see that both Armenia itself and its new patrons do not want this. They live with ideas of revenge, and Armenia is actually a source of threat to the region. The independent Armenian state is actually a fascist state. Because if this country has been led by proponents of fascist ideology for nearly 30 years, they have shaped this country the way they did. Now look, the racist and fascist statements of the first president of Armenia are as ugly as they are dangerous",- stated Aliyev.

Ilham Aliyev pointed out the racist and fascist statements made by Armenia's first president, calling them disgraceful and dangerous. "He presents ethnic cleansing as a source of pride, bragging about the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from their historical ancestral lands. This video has now been made public. But of course, Armenia knew this. Armenia’s allies and supporters knew and shared these views. The 30-year occupation policy against us is not simply a product of Armenia, but a joint product of Islamophobic, Azerbaijanophobic, racist, xenophobic circles, and representatives of foreign countries who are in solidarity with it. We are neighbors with such a fascist state, and the threat of fascism is not going away."

The President of Azerbaijan emphasized that fascism must be destroyed. "Either the Armenian leadership will destroy it, or we will. We have no other choice. Once again, 30 years of occupation, the suffering of our people, the Khojaly genocide, the ravaged and devastated Karabakh—all of this is before our eyes. Who can guarantee that this will not happen again? No one! Because the first three leaders of Armenia were proponents of fascist ideology. The current leader of Armenia, as I said, wants to present himself as a dove of peace. But look at his speeches from 2018-2019. No one wants to remember them now. Even his friends in France do not want to distance themselves from him."

The head of state also made it clear that Azerbaijan cannot remain a passive observer : "Armenia must immediately stop arming. France and other countries that provide it with weapons must terminate and cancel these contracts. The weapons that have already been sent to Armenia must be returned. This is our condition. Let them take it as they please. I give my word, they know it, and those behind them know that if we say something, then we are already taking this issue very seriously."