Officials in Baku, apparently, think that they should still be offended by Russia — Nikolay Silaev

Speaking with Alpha News, Nikolay Silaev, Senior Research Fellow at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, commented on Armenian-Russian and Russian-Azerbaijani relations against the backdrop of Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.

“I believe the prevailing sentiment in Moscow regarding this issue is bewilderment. What facts support statements like those made by the speaker of parliament? Why do many representatives, including those of the ruling party, talk about Russia as a hostile country, even though Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union together with Russia? Armenia has not yet legally withdrawn from the CSTO and there is a bilateral agreement on the Union. Let’s put it this way: two years ago we tried to find logic in this situation. Now it is absolutely impossible to do so. Because if the democratically elected, legitimate leadership of Armenia decided to sever relations with Russia, then that is Yerevan’s decision, even though it is unpleasant for us. We are not interested in this at all and do not want this. If we are building allied relations, in which, of course, there are some rough edges and mutual grievances, then let us discuss these issues and eliminate them. But when, on one hand, Armenia engages in trade with Russia and maintains membership in integration organizations alongside Russia, and on the other hand, there is a constant stream of statements portraying Russia as hostile to Armenia, it becomes impossible to make sense of it. What did they want to say in the end? That is the main question,” Silaev emphasized.

According to the expert, Baku does not fully understand the potential consequences of the accumulating negativity.

“Azerbaijani diplomacy is very tough, I would say tenacious and very attentive, and not at all inclined toward conciliatory gestures. I suspect that Azerbaijan’s leader did not attend Victory Day celebrations in Moscow due to the belief that Baku has not yet extracted all possible advantages from the recent developments in Russian-Azerbaijani relations. In Baku, apparently, they believe that they still need to be offended, they still need to be mad,” the expert said.