Considering Azerbaijan our partner was a ‘mistake’, says Zatulin

In an interview with Lenta.ru, Russia’s State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin said that by calling the Ukrainian conflict an invasion by Russia, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has taken a step against Russia.

“As to the recognition of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Aliyev is not contradicting the truth. Azerbaijan has held this position since the return of Crimea, although it had not expressed it as openly as it does now. From the very beginning, Baku’s stance differed from ours, and at times was even hostile. Through time, we came to notice that, but we should have noticed this from the start,” Zatulin noted.

According to Zatulin, Azerbaijan was previously restrained by the advantages of cooperation with Russia, but this no longer carries the same weight. He said Aliyev no longer needs an intermediary in the form of Moscow — he now has U.S. support.

He added that Aliyev’s description of the war in Ukraine as an invasion amounts to “a direct attack on Russia.”

“It is good that at least we are drawing conclusions. We must not deceive ourselves about Azerbaijan or imagine it as our partner. That was a mistake,” the lawmaker stated.

Aliyev earlier reaffirmed that Azerbaijan had supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity from the first days of the conflict and explicitly referred to the war as a “Russian invasion.”