Aliyev Found It Beneficial to Temporarily Distance Himself from Russia, Says Zatulin

In recent months, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has been occupied with other matters, traveling to Washington to negotiate regarding the "Zangezur Corridor." This was stated by Konstantin Zatulin, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Issues of Compatriots, and Relations with Fellow Citizens of the State Duma, in an interview with NEWS.am.

"At that time, it was beneficial for him to keep himself distant from Russia so that Moscow would not interfere in his negotiations with Pashinyan and Trump, as he wanted to achieve results. He was unsure whether Russia would not exert certain influence in this case. This concerns not only that particular period but also the overall situation in the South Caucasus. In my opinion, the potential and prospects for resolution should be assessed not only by this meeting but also by what follows it. For example, will the captured Russian hostages, who were taken to showcase the relationships, be released from prison? Will the Russian House, which was closed, be restored to its former status, as well as our "Russia Today" and everything that was clearly suppressed — was this to confirm Azerbaijan's attitude towards Russia at this stage?

In my opinion, Russian-Azerbaijani relations should be good. At the same time, we need to objectively assess Azerbaijan's role and place as well as its objectives. If Azerbaijan's goals, together with Turkey, are to develop the Organization of Turkic States, and by the way, Aliyev came to this meeting after the 12th summit of the Turkic States organization in Gabala. By the way, Gabala is a significant place. There was a radar station of the Russian Federation, which was dismantled during Ilham Aliyev's tenure. The Russian radar station was destroyed in Gabala.

This is where the 12th summit of the Turkic States Organization took place. During that summit, Aliyev spoke about how his relations with Turkey are developing and that only in the past year, 25 military exercises between Azerbaijan and Turkey have been conducted. I want to draw attention to the fact that Turkey is a member of NATO.

We are fighting in Ukraine to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and becoming a full member of that alliance. Azerbaijan is militarily uniting its forces with NATO member Turkey, which constantly emphasizes in Western European forums that it is not Turkey moving towards Azerbaijan and then towards the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, but rather a NATO member state is advancing. This should be evident to everyone. Courtesies, gestures, and politeness are common phenomena in a polite society, and there is nothing strange in that, just as there is nothing strange in the desire to establish relations," noted Zatulin.