Aliyev made a direct attack against Russia — Zatulin

Calling the Ukrainian conflict an "invasion of Russia," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a direct attack against Russia, State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin said.

Aliyev said earlier that Baku had supported the "territorial integrity of Ukraine" since the first days of the Russian special military operation.

"Our position on this issue is unequivocal. And again, going back to what was discussed regarding Azerbaijani-Russian relations, from the first days of the Russian invasion, we Ukraine was supported by the territorial integrity of Ukraine and we continue to support it," he said.

As Zatulin noted, with regard to the recognition of the "territorial integrity of Ukraine," Aliyev is not sinning against the truth here — Azerbaijan has held this position since the return of Crimea, "just did not voice it as intrusively as it is now."

"From the very beginning, Baku has maintained a different and sometimes even hostile position from ours. Over time, we began to notice this, although it was worth noticing from the very beginning," <url> quotes Zatulin.

Zatulin explained that up to a certain point Azerbaijan was constrained by the understanding of the benefits of cooperation with Russia, but now it is no longer so relevant. According to the MP, Aliyev no longer needs an intermediary in the person of Moscow, now he has the support of the United States.

"But the fact that Aliyev called the Ukrainian conflict an invasion is already a direct attack on Russia. It is good that we at least draw conclusions: we should not delude ourselves about Azerbaijan and represent it as our partner. It was a misunderstanding," the politician is sure.