Pashinyan and Aliyev are simultaneously taking steps that escalate regional tensions – Vitaly Milonov

Russian MP Vitaly Milonov commented to Alpha News on Azerbaijan’s anti-Russian steps.

“It seems that Azerbaijan was looking for an excuse to take pre-planned steps against Russia. The problem is that the excuse turned out to be very weak. And I would not even call it an excuse, since Russian forces found and exposed the killers of Azerbaijanis in Russia. That is, the people who have now been detained are the people who killed Azerbaijanis, and instead of expressing gratitude for the fact that justice has prevailed, Azerbaijan was outraged that the killers of Azerbaijanis were detained,” Milonov said.

According to the MP, Pashinyan and the leadership of Azerbaijan are simultaneously taking steps that are clearly escalating tensions in the region.

“The situation is that Iran now has its own specific problems, the Russian army is effectively liberating Ukraine. That means a new flashpoint should be created. Therefore, both Pashinyan and the leadership of Azerbaijan are simultaneously taking steps that are clearly escalating tensions in the region. If there were any issues related to law enforcement conduct under existing agreements and protocols, these could have been resolved through calm dialogue, but no, instead, five or six Azerbaijani parliamentarians have made extremely harsh, undiplomatic, and unfriendly statements about Russia. Journalists have been detained, which is completely unprecedented. It seems to me that some forces in Azerbaijan, not having the courage to say anything, are trying to take some actions that will deliberately worsen relations. And this is least beneficial to those Azerbaijanis who live in Russia—yet no one seems to be considering their interests. It is a shame that some Azerbaijani politicians are making such a mistake,” Milonov concluded.