Azernews.Az

Abbas Ganbay

Read more

Although the progress of the Brussels meeting was received in a positive mood from the West, the attitude of neighboring Russia to the process was ambiguous. Yesterday, the covered and biased statement of the Russian MFA regarding the border crossing point in Lachin expressed its attitude to the process.

Azerbaijan is considered a strategic ally with Russia, and an agreement document was signed on this on 22 February 2022. In addition, Russia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and has repeatedly confirmed it. However, this approach of the Russian side last week not only overshadowed the existing relations, but also created a serious reaction among the public.

According to Azerbaijani political analyst Matin Mammadli, the Russia's position is based on its sense of competition with the West.

"It is an extremely sad fact that after the Brussels meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia made statements containing certain prejudices against Azerbaijan. A certain threatening tone can be felt in those statements. I believe that Russia, by demonstrating such a position, is trying to say that it does not accept the role of the West, the European Union, or the United States as the main mediator in the negotiation process, and at the same time it is trying to restore its monopolism in the negotiation process," the expert emphasized in his comment for AZERNEWS.

M. Mammadli, while explaining Russia's position, noted that official Moscow was never interested in a one-time solution to the conflict in the South Caucasus.
"Approaching the issue in general, I would like to add that Russia is not interested in solving the problems and conflicts in the region. In other words, official Moscow thinks that as long as the issue of solving these problems is prolonged, Russia will maintain its influence over the region. In other words, in their opinion, the solution to the problems is the end of Russia's role. As for the latest statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry, I think that Russia's biased approach to the processes between Azerbaijan and Armenia is also due to the fact that the West has a leading position in the negotiations. Even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said that Russia is ready to mediate between Azerbaijan and Armenia if negotiations take place in the near future. Let me note once again that this shows Russia's initiative to show itself as the main mediator in the negotiation process," the political analyst said.

At the end of his comment, Matin Mammadli also noted that Russia undermines its partnership position by making such a statement. According to the expert, Azerbaijan has always considered Russia as its strategic ally, guided by the documents signed between Baku and Moscow.

"I would like to add one point that the last statement of the Russian MFA was, of course, full of many contradictory points. The main point is that Russia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. A number of Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, made statements in this regard. Both countries signed an agreement on strategic alliance activities in February 2022. In other words, such a position of the Russian MFA recently is contradictory to Russia's previous position on Azerbaijan," the expert concluded.

Abbas Ganbay is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @Noend33

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz