Distancing from Russia is Azerbaijan’s geopolitical choice — Igor Yushkov

Speaking with Alpha News, Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation and the National Energy Security Fund (NESF), commented on the deteriorating relations between Azerbaijan and Russia.

According to the expert, the information that the energy sector was the reason for the deterioration of relations between Baku and Moscow is not true.

“The information that is emerging that this is all because Russia struck the Kremenchug Oil Refinery in Ukraine is not true. Although Russia periodically strikes Odessa, firstly, the strikes were not carried out specifically at the property of an Azerbaijani company. And secondly, if the reason was energy, then relations would have deteriorated earlier, because Russia has been striking the Kremenchug Oil Refinery and Odessa since 2022, and this has never led to an aggravation of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan already has places to deliver its oil and there have been no large deliveries to the Kremenchug Oil Refinery since 2022. Therefore, I believe the reason is not energy, especially not Ukrainian energy,” Yushkov said.

According to the expert, Azerbaijan’s actions are a deliberate policy to worsen relations with Russia.

“I believe this is a deliberate policy of distancing from Russia. And it all started earlier, not now. We saw that Aliyev did not come to Moscow for May 9. Therefore, the reasons should be sought in Azerbaijan’s geopolitical choice. They believe that distancing themselves from Russia, firstly, will allow them to strengthen Aliyev’s position, and, secondly, will allow them to get closer to the United States, Great Britain, and Europe. This is a certain geopolitical choice of Azerbaijan, they believe that this will bring them more political points and therefore they are pursuing such a policy. That is, if there were no arrests of criminals of Azerbaijani origin in Russia, there would be some other reason. These are certain symptoms of the policy that Azerbaijan has chosen,” Yushkov concluded.