Azerbaijan's foreign policy never set against third countries

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

In light of recent events between Russia and Ukraine, some social media users draw illogical parallels between the latest developments and the declaration on allied cooperation that will be signed during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Moscow, the Baku-based news website Day.az has said.

It stressed that people should not ignore a number of Azerbaijan-related facts when forming unfounded theories.

Day.az emphasizes that Azerbaijan, as not only an active member but also the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), has never made any agreements that would be directed against third countries.

It is worth noting that Azerbaijan has been working hard for a long time to establish itself as a key economic and political hub in the region.

"Only the fact that the country is referred to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, according to various estimates, indicated that Azerbaijan is at the intersection of a huge number of different geopolitical interests, which sometimes do not match," the news website noted.

In such circumstances, "picking a side" is clearly not on the country's agenda, as it would significantly reduce Azerbaijan's attractiveness as a hub.

Azerbaijan always conducts its foreign policy in accordance with its national interests and establishes good neighborly relations with other countries on the basis of mutual benefit.

Relations between the country and Russia and Ukraine are developing in a spirit of genuine friendship, mutual respect, and trust.

As for the signing of the declaration on allied cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, it was reported that the document was being prepared since the middle of last year.

Furthermore, President Ilham Aliyev stated in his New Year's address to the nation that Russian-Azerbaijani relations will reach new heights. As a result, the signing of this declaration cannot be described as unexpected.

A similar document on allied relations, known as the Shusha Declaration, was signed last year in Shusha by Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“So the signing and the declaration between Azerbaijan and Russia is a matter of purely bilateral relations between our friendly countries. Russian-Azerbaijani relations are developing in the logic of the regional concept, which Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin have defined and agreed upon for the long term,” the website noted.

Day.az also underlined that in the process of reformatting the system of international relations, Russian-Azerbaijani strategic cooperation, as the key architects of the new geopolitical reality in the region, is of particular importance.

On February 21, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva arrived in Russia on an official visit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The signing of the declaration of allied relations between the two countries is expected during the visit.

On February 21, Vladimir Putin recognized the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Lugansk People's Republic" and signed documents on friendship and mutual assistance with the so-called “DPR” and “LPR”.