I read what was written in the Russian media about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Azerbaijan.
Since Russia is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine, it almost scrutinizes with a magnifying glass Zelensky's visits to foreign countries and analyzes the agreements he has reached with various countries.
In this regard, I observed two types of approaches in the Russian media towards Zelensky's visit to Azerbaijan.
One part of the Russian media simply published news about Zelensky's visit and the agreements reached with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Another part of the Russian media claimed that Ukraine-Azerbaijan cooperation is supposedly directed against Russia; on one of the websites, I even came across the expression "Azerbaijan stabbed Russia in the back."
Who stabbed whom in the back was clearly shown in 2014 when Azerbaijan's civilian plane was shot down by a missile in Russian airspace, leading to the death of our citizens. Despite high-level promises from the Russian side, compensation has still not been paid to the families of the deceased and the injured.
There is also a dual reaction from our northern neighbor to Volodymyr Zelensky's statement during the joint press conference with Ilham Aliyev, "I propose that the next meeting between representatives of Ukraine and Russia be held in Azerbaijan."
Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council's Committee on International Affairs, considered it possible to hold talks in Azerbaijan.
His colleague, Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's Committee on CIS Affairs, stated that he was against holding the meeting in Azerbaijan.
It would have been surprising to expect any reaction other than from Zatulin, who collaborates with Armenian radicals.
Another deputy chairman of the same committee, Viktor Vololatsky, also took the same position as Zatulin.
It seems to them that arranging a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Baku is one of the main objectives of our foreign policy. This is Zelensky's proposal. The Ukrainian President offered our country as the venue for the meeting, referring to Azerbaijan’s balanced foreign policy.
We have such experience. Previously, negotiations between Turkey and Israel were held in Baku, and the Russian Chief of General Staff also held meetings with NATO command in our capital several times.
It is clear that if Moscow is not in favor of holding talks with Ukrainian representatives on Azerbaijani territory, the possible meeting will take place in another country. This will not be a problem for us as long as the war is ended.
As for the question raised in some Russian circles of "why does Azerbaijan want to expand military-technical cooperation with Ukraine," this is our internal matter. Azerbaijan's military-technical cooperation with various countries is not directed against third countries but aimed at increasing our defense capabilities. If there are still those in Russian political circles who do not want to understand this, that is their business. We, however, must continue our participation in projects that increase our defense and military power together with friendly and partner states.
Elkhan Shahinoglu,
political scientist