Azerbaijan has to take Russia into account, rather than seek external support – Alexey Anpilogov

Russian political scientist Alexey Anpilogov spoke to Alpha News about the future of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan following the talks between Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe.

“This isn’t merely a matter between Russia and Azerbaijan—or more specifically, between Putin and Aliyev—but one that concerns the entire Transcaucasian and Caspian region. They are very complex. For example, Azerbaijan has yet to justify its participation, or at least its assistance, in Israel’s twelve-day war with Iran—and its use of Azerbaijani territory and, by extension, the Caspian Sea for bomber overflights targeting Iran. This is a story that extends beyond the formal connection to the downing of an Azerbaijani aircraft by Russian air defenses. Indeed, trust between countries must be rebuilt—trust that has been largely undermined, including by Azerbaijan’s actions in relation to, for example, the Ukrainian conflict, where Baku openly supplies weapons to Ukraine and offers its territory for the deployment of military production facilities, including the manufacture of artillery ammunition for Kyiv,” Anpilogov said.

According to the political scientist, Azerbaijan is forced to take Russia into account rather than seek external support.

“I don’t believe this is a simple process that can be resolved with a symbolic handshake, after which all bilateral issues would disappear without further discussion through working groups and ongoing cooperation across various sectors. As I see it, the meeting of the two leaders is, of course, a significant event, demonstrating that Azerbaijan and Russia have far more common goals, common areas of cooperation, and a common security bubble than the disagreements that have been prioritized as insurmountable and impossible to resolve—either now or in the distant future. The two countries truly share a border and common interests—in the Transcaucasus, the Caspian, and the Caspian region. Therefore, I believe Azerbaijan will have to take Russia into account, rather than simply seek external support—be it Britain, the United States, or any other country that, to put it mildly, is distant from the Transcaucasus,” Anpilogov concluded.