In the mountains, horizons recede, and many things become clear. A ceasefire on the Russia-Ukraine front is approaching. However, this will not be a final peace but merely a temporary freezing of the current or a similar line of contact. This is how former Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Tofig Zulfugarov commented on the Russian-Azerbaijani crisis in a Facebook post.
According to him, both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin will declare themselves victors. However, in both Ukraine and Russia, the issue of replacing these “victors” with new players will become relevant. Groups within Ukraine’s political elite and the Kremlin have already begun behind-the-scenes maneuvers, preparing for a deadly struggle for power. The West, maintaining contact with them, is sending encouraging signals, further exacerbating the confrontation.
“The tragedy with our plane has become a situational backdrop for internal political struggles among Kremlin-affiliated groups. Judging by the synchronized narratives of imperialist mouthpieces in Russian media and the so-called ‘fighters against the Russian empire’ within our own ranks, it is clear that the orchestrators are from Russian intelligence services, which continue to control their agents, including in Azerbaijan.
The President of Azerbaijan has made his position clear: Do not attempt to drag us into your internal political squabbles. We demand that Russia’s stance on our plane tragedy be limited strictly to international legal norms, without attempts to settle the matter through backroom dealings. The Kremlin’s power factions and Western players must understand that the emergence of ‘new Prigozhins’ is their problem, and dragging us into this adventure is futile,” he wrote.