Tough statement from Azerbaijan toward Russian Defence Ministry
On March 7, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry commented on the statement of the Russian Defence Ministry.
"The use of the term 'Nagorno-Karabakh' in the context of humanitarian aid sent to Ukraine by the Russian Defence Ministry is unacceptable," Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said. “Support for the integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of its borders has been reaffirmed. At the same time, this position has been reaffirmed in the relevant documents signed between the two countries."
Contrary to the official position of the Russian Federation, the official statements of the Russian Defence Ministry referred to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan under this name. "It could escalate the situation."
A statement issued by the Russian Defence Ministry's website on March 7 said that "Nagorno-Karabakh and Syria have sent humanitarian aid to the population of Kyiv and Zaporozhe regions."
The report quoted the head of the National Centre for Defence Control of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, as saying that "14 tons of necessary items were brought from Nagorno-Karabakh."
The Russian Defence Ministry has not yet commented on the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry's response.
Azerbaijani political commentator Javidan Ahmadkhanli flagged that Russia's sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine on behalf of the so-called Karabakh organisation shows that Moscow's view of the South Caucasus has not changed.
He noted that the reasons for Moscow's provocative step can be traced to a large rally in Baku last week in support of Azerbaijan's humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Maybe there are other reasons. “However, for years, Moscow's perspective, style of action, and diplomatic response have not been able to break the territorial integrity of the neighbouring state and support separatism. The strategy of trying to regain what you lost with soft force continues with hard force.”
“Regardless of the outcome of the ongoing war, recent developments show that Russia does not have the potential to be a global pole in terms of economic, military or governance model.”
“As economic isolation grows and Ukraine becomes messier, it is clear that it will not be possible to continue supplying the empire's branches to other regions. The beginning and end of the last century show us that the Caucasus is one of the first regions where the Russian Empire has entered a period of decline,” Ahmadkhanli said.