On December 12, Hikmet Hajiyev, the Aide to the President of Azerbaijan, stated that following the collapse of the Assad regime, Azerbaijan hopes for peace and security in Syria, the establishment of friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Syria, and the development of bilateral ties.

Hajiyev noted that the former Syrian regime's leadership had posed significant challenges for Azerbaijan in international organizations. "They spoke unconditionally on issues related to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Syrian representatives even made statements within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation framework that contradicted the principle of Islamic Solidarity," he stated.

He also highlighted that Azerbaijan and Turkey are jointly consulting and addressing issues concerning the humanitarian situation in Syria. Hajiyev mentioned that during a phone conversation between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Aliyev expressed readiness to assist in resolving Syria's humanitarian issues.

In response to questions from journalists, Hajiyev addressed the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, emphasizing concerns over the presence of third-country forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. "The Republic of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated this. We do not see any need for the deployment of a European Union (EU) mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border," he said.

He noted that during the Prague meeting involving Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron, former European Council President Charles Michel, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, it was agreed that the EU mission would be short-term. However, Hajiyev expressed concern that the mission had become a continuous process with an expanded composition and geographic mandate.

Hajiyev argued that the delimitation and demarcation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia should be conducted through mutual understanding and peace without the need for a third-party presence. "Therefore, strengthening peace is a process directly between Azerbaijan and Armenia and is bilateral in nature. On the contrary, the presence of a third force on the border of the two countries serves to a certain extent to aggravate the situation, and the emergence of the European Union as a security and military factor in the South Caucasus as a whole," he emphasized.