US President's special envoy Steve Witkoff called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “a true statesman”.
Modern.az reports that Witkoff voiced these thoughts while speaking about the US administration's efforts towards the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan.
According to him, after the 2020 war, US President Donald Trump asked an interesting question during a meeting with the Azerbaijani leader at the White House on August 8:
“He said: "Why did you stop? You had a large army, victory was with you".
Ilham Aliyev answered this question as follows: “I returned what was taken from us (referring to the occupied territories - ed.). There is no need for more.”
Witkoff called this answer “a wise and restrained decision” and stated that President Aliyev, through his conduct, demonstrated an example of a responsible and far-sighted leader.
