China and U.S. are world's two superpowers; there is no third - President Ilham Aliyev

China and the United States are the world's two superpowers; there is no third, President Ilham Aliyev said during his speech at the 8th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP). "We have strategic partnership declarations and agreements with many EU member states – Azerbaijan maintains such a format with 10 member states. I can say that two historic events have occurred recently: we established strategic partnership relations with both China and the United States.

A comprehensive strategic partnership declaration was signed with China, and a Strategic Charter was signed with the United States. These are the world's two superpowers; there is no third. Matters are naturally discussed and competition exists between these countries, and establishing rules based on mutual understanding between them is a crucial factor for the whole world.

Azerbaijan is a strategic partner to both of these superpowers. Our population and territory are not large. This reflects the trust in us, the attitude toward us, and the belief in our word.

There is no one left in the world who does not know that our word is as valuable as our signature. Whatever we say, we stand by it. We have never played double games, nor have we displayed hypocrisy or deceit toward any country – even though we have repeatedly faced such conduct ourselves and continue to face it today.

But we can never be like them. We are people who respect ourselves; we live with dignity and conduct our policy with dignity. Through our example, everyone can see that this is possible: to defeat the enemy single-handedly, dictate your terms to the enemy, force them to sign an act of capitulation despite suffering 30 years of hardship, and then stop at the right time to achieve peace so that no more blood is shed.

We do not need an eternal war; that was not our choice. In the Second Garabagh War, we stopped at the right time, and in September 2023, we also stopped at the right time, although various options existed. Strategic foresight, strategic thinking, and prioritizing the core interests of our people dictate this policy.