Putin "achieved the impossible" because he is despised in both Azerbaijan and Armenia – analyst Gasanov

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has "achieved the impossible" – making himself equally despised in both Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azerbaijani analyst Akper Gasanov said in the LIGA.net article.

According to him, Baku has nothing to lose from the cooling of relations with Moscow, unlike Russia.

"Putin's uniqueness lies in the fact that he managed to do the impossible – to be equally despised in both Azerbaijan and Armenia. For example, Russians were also caught and accused of attempting to organize a coup in Armenia. And I fully believe that such an attempt could have been made," the analyst noted.

In his opinion, after the Azerbaijani army finally took control of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, Moscow lost its main lever of influence on both Baku and Yerevan, as the Russian Federation no longer has other means of pressure in the region.

All oil and gas pipelines bypass Russia, and the European Union is Azerbaijan's main economic partner, the Gasanov noted.

He added: the only thing left for Moscow is to put pressure on Azerbaijanis in Russia and force them out of its territory (according to the official 2021 census, there are about 475,000 members of this nation in Russia, but the real figures range from 1-2 million).

Overall, analyst believes that the key to this conflict is Moscow's attempt to put pressure on Baku to prevent it from pursuing an overly independent policy.

• Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have sharply deteriorated following the arrest of a group of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of involvement in murders and assaults. Two brothers died after being detained by Russian security forces. Several other people were hospitalized.
• The Azerbaijani prosecutor's office has opened a criminal case regarding the torture and murder of two Azerbaijani citizens by Russian security forces. An Azerbaijani forensic examination revealed that the men died from post-traumatic shock following their injuries.
• Russian cultural events were canceled in Azerbaijan, and two agents of the Russian Federal Security Service were allegedly detained in the office of Sputnik propagandists in Baku.
• Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy spoke by phone with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Aliyev, and supported his country in this conflict.