Azernews.Az

Qabil Ashirov

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Once again, back on track, Russia continues to act as a loose cannon, crossing the red lines of its neighbours and allies. Once again, like in the 1980s and mid-1990s, today Russian politicians disrespect everyone. The previous time this arrogant behaviour cost Russia very big, it lost all its gains throughout the world, and the USSR collapsed into fifteen republics. Shooting an Azerbaijani plane en route to Baku-Grozny gives us bases to suggest that Russia did not learn a lesson from its disastrous history.

Thus, like today, at the end of the last century, Azerbaijan was the only friendly republic toward Russia which then obsessed with arrogance and full of itself, miscalculated Azerbaijan’s potential and backed Yerevan which then was anti-Russia. On a side note, according to the results of the referendum conducted in 1990, Azerbaijanis were in favour of keeping the USSR. On the contrary, Yerevan even did not conduct the referendum. However, the arrogance blinded Moscow, and they could not evaluate the reality on the ground which resulted in a big blow to its interests in the South Caucasus. The Soviet army conducted a mass killing in Baku on January 20, 1990. Aftermath, the nascent Russian army meddled in the Khojaly massacre. To top it all off, Russia helped Armenia with weapons, money and all that throughout the First Garabagh war which resulted in the invasion of twenty per cent of Azerbaijani territories and turning one million Azerbaijani citizens into refugees or IDPs.

In the face of all these disrespectful actions, Azerbaijan's response was as strict as Russian betrayal. Nakhchivan was one of the first regions in the USSR, that withdrew from the Union. Azerbaijan was the first country after the Pre-Baltic republics, that drove the Russian military out of the republic. Georgia followed the footprints of Azerbaijan and closed the Russian military base after ten years. All politicians or factions supporting Russia lost their face, having not been able to restore their reputation so far. With its actions, Azerbaijan proved that it is the most resilient country in the region and it will never allow anyone to disrespect it.

The situation changed after Putin’s ascend to power. The tide and flow relations between the two countries restored and Moscow did not behave arrogantly against Azerbaijan. However, the plane incident which happened on December 25, 2024, demonstrated that Russia, cornered in the Ukraine war, back on track and started to act arrogantly. Thus, declining to pay compensation and to punish guilty ones, Moscow refuses to take responsibility. All these give us bases to suggest that either Putin repeats the mistakes of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, or he lost control of the country.

Certainly, it will not be in favour of Russia. Azerbaijan did not allow Russia to humiliate it 30 years ago when it was facing a perfect storm — struggling with hyperinflation and war. Today, Azerbaijan is much stronger than it was back then. Accepting humiliation is out of the question for Azerbaijan. Like 30 years ago, it will be Russia to lose its reputation and will have another blow to its interests in the region and worldwide.