Zatulin urged not to delude oneself about Azerbaijan

The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Russia's special representative for migration and citizenship Konstantin Zatulin urged "not to delude ourselves" about the normalization of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.

It is not necessary to pretend that we have no political contradictions, the deputy said on the air of the radio station "Moscow Says".

"What Dmitry Peskov said is a statement of the fact that Azerbaijan SMO has not been an ally of Russia in this matter from the very beginning and believes publicly that it maintains its relations with the Zelensky regime and defiantly strengthens them. If Mr. Aliyev believes that this does not create problems in relations with Russia, then I think he is mistaken in this case. We are talking about the general attitude towards Azerbaijan as a partner. Of course, Azerbaijan is not our strategic partner. This does not mean that we should not have relationships in various fields, I welcome this. But there is no need to flatter yourself on this score. And to pretend that we don't have any contradictions, geopolitical, political, or any other — too. Therefore, I consider the enthusiasm about the fact that Azerbaijan considers our relations to be normalized inappropriate in this case," Zatulin said.

Azerbaijan is a strategic partner and ally of Turkey, it is our neighbor, but it is not at all seeking an alliance with us, the MP stressed.

Earlier, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the position of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Ukraine erroneous. At the same time, it should not cast a shadow on bilateral relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Aliyev had previously stated that he adheres to the position he held from the very beginning of the conflict in the Ukraine. He supported the "territorial integrity and sovereignty" of the country, and also pointed to the "occupation" of its territories.