AZE.US
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev may have been connected to the recent strike on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, according to Azerbaijani political analyst Ilgar Velizade.
As AZE.US reports, Velizade, head of the South Caucasus Political Scientists Club, made the remarks during an appearance on the Echo Baku YouTube channel.
He said the incident should not be viewed as routine, warning that similar attacks could pose a threat to oil infrastructure and the environmental security of all Caspian littoral states.
“Similar incidents cannot be ruled out in the future. A drone could strike the wrong target, including an oil field. A major fire or accident would, to some extent, affect all Caspian countries,” Velizade said.
The analyst stressed that the Caspian Sea is a closed ecosystem, meaning that a serious incident involving Russian oil infrastructure could also have consequences for Azerbaijan.
According to Velizade, Moscow may have been interested in Baku using its working relations with Kyiv and European partners to help reduce the risk of further attacks in the Caspian region.
“The president of Azerbaijan has good relations with the president of Ukraine, as well as constructive contacts with the leadership of the European Union and individual European states. The conversation may have concerned efforts to reduce the risk of similar incidents,” he said.
Asked whether Aliyev could have acted as an intermediary between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Velizade said such a possibility could not be ruled out. He emphasized, however, that this was only his own assumption.
Velizade also said Azerbaijan has an interest in preventing the Caspian Sea from becoming a theater of military operations. At the same time, he argued that Baku may insist that no threats against Ukraine originate from the Caspian region.
The analyst also drew attention to the nearly identical statements published by the Azerbaijani and Russian presidential administrations following the phone call.
In his view, the similarity of the official statements may indicate a significant level of coordination between Baku and Moscow despite existing disagreements in bilateral relations.
AZE.US