Aliyev’s statements about ‘Western Azerbaijan’ result from Pashinyan’s policy — Konstantin Sivkov

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian military expert Konstantin Sivkov commented on the anti-Russian steps of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Baku’s new statements about “Western Azerbaijan”. According to the expert, Azerbaijan’s anti-Russian actions are dictated by intense pressure from the West.

“It is now quite obvious that Azerbaijan is pursuing a pro-Turkish and pro-Western course. And this course is unfriendly towards Russia. Azerbaijan’s actions are dictated by intense pressure that was exerted on the Azerbaijani administration in the period preceding May 9. While Azerbaijani troops were present at the Parade, Ilham Aliyev himself was absent, and from this we can conclude that Aliyev intended to attend the Parade, but he was put under serious pressure and was unable to do so. There was very strong pressure from European states on the leaders of all countries, and their vulnerability can be assessed based on whether they chose to attend the Parade in Moscow,” Sivkov said.

According to the expert, Russia will respond to Azerbaijan’s anti-Russian actions in the event of open military assistance to Ukraine.

“Russia will react to Azerbaijan’s actions under the following conditions. First, Azerbaijan will openly supply Ukraine with weapons, military equipment, and ammunition to fight against Russia. Second, if Azerbaijan sends military specialists there to assist Ukraine in conducting military operations. Third, if Azerbaijan provides Ukraine with political and diplomatic support. And the fact that Azerbaijan is now sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine is nothing special, because humanitarian aid alone is not a weapon,” Sivkov noted.

According to the expert, Aliyev’s new ambitious statements about “Western Azerbaijan” are the result of Pashinyan’s policy.

“Aliyev started talking about ‘Western Azerbaijan’ due to the fact that he realized that the policy of the current leader of Armenia, Mr. Pashinyan, is Western-oriented and in these conditions, if Russia enters the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict on the side of Armenia, it will do so in a very limited way. Because the line that Mr. Pashinyan is pursuing cannot be called friendly to Russia. In these conditions, Azerbaijan feels confident and begins to demonstrate and declare its ambitions, its interests in new territories, including territories that are part of Armenia. This is the result of Mr. Pashinyan’s policy. If Nagorno-Karabakh had not been surrendered, the Azerbaijani leadership would not have had such thoughts,” Sivkov concluded.