Russian President Vladimir Putin used the following expression at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit held in China: “Russia proceeds from the necessity that the security of no country should be formed at the expense of another.”
Political analyst Elkhan Shahinoglu told Medianews.az that although Putin included Ukraine in this statement, the logic in the sentence can also apply to other states neighboring Russia: “Putin means that because Ukraine wanted to join NATO, Russia started an aggressive war against this country. In his view, Russia’s other neighbor Finland joined NATO after the Ukraine war. If that also does not correspond to Russia’s interests, does that mean Finland will also become a target of the Kremlin? Finland joined NATO considering its own security, and at that time the Kremlin’s desires did not interest Helsinki in the slightest. Or Azerbaijan signed the Shusha declaration that strengthens strategic alliance with Turkey, the second largest state in terms of NATO’s military power. In this case as well, like Finland, Azerbaijan proceeded from its own security interests. According to Putin’s logic now, should Azerbaijan have considered Russia’s interests when signing the strategic alliance declaration with Turkey?”
While Russia armed Armenia for years, it disregarded the security interests of its neighbor Azerbaijan. According to Putin’s logic, Russia should not have pursued policies contrary to the security interests of its neighbor Azerbaijan. The leader of the country who said “The neighbor’s security must be taken into account” remained a passive observer when a neighbor’s civilian plane was hit by a missile, which led to deterioration of relations. This once again shows that there is a big difference between what Putin says and what he does.”
Toğrul Ali,
Medianews.az
