Demarche for demarche's sake
Response to Maria Zakharova's statement

ANALYTICS  13 September 2023 - 17:31

A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova announced that Russia expressed a diplomatic demarche to Azerbaijan due to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s statement about elections in "new Russian regions". "A diplomatic demarche was expressed to the Azerbaijani side. We have expressed everything on this issue,” she said.

Judging by the tone and text voiced by Zakharova, Moscow was outraged by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's remark about the illegitimacy of "elections" in Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions.

"We proceed from the fact that Baku should treat the issue of our country's territorial integrity with the same respect that partners count on from our side when it comes to the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan," Zakharova allowed herself a very transparent hint. And it is probably not worth turning a blind eye to it.

Let's start with the demarche. The Russian side, of course, has the right to express it to any state. But if it seeks to be properly understood, it should find more solid grounds for this diplomatic act; arguments made out of thin air will not work here. In this particular case, it is undoubtedly a demarche for demarche's sake. Something like Porthos' boast: "I fight because I fight." But what is allowed to a musketeer, especially to such a troublemaker as Porthos, does not make a diplomat look good.

So what was the reason for the Russian Federation's discontent? As is known, on September 10, elections were held there at various levels, in particular, elections of heads of 26 regions, deputies of legislative bodies of state power, as well as "elections of 79 municipal associations of Russian administrations of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions" of Ukraine occupied by the Russian army.

The fact of Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories has been recognised by all international organisations. It follows that Zakharova's arguments about elections "in four regions of the Russian Federation" are an exclusively Russian postulate that has nothing to do with the actual state of affairs. And any attempt to deny this is deceit on the Russian side. In addition, it makes sense to recall the statement of our foreign ministry in this regard.

"Azerbaijan and Ukraine recognise and support each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Proceeding from that Azerbaijan states that any elections in the territory of Ukraine can be legitimate if it is held in accordance with the Constitution and legislation of this state," the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

It also noted that this is a principled position of Azerbaijan based on universally recognised norms and principles of international law concerning the sovereignty of states. And it explained that "since the recent 'elections' held on a part of the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine do not meet these criteria, they have no legal force".

Everything is clear, reasoned, and transparent. The Russian side simply has no real grounds for a demarche, otherwise, it should have announced a demarche to the whole world. Another thing is that the Russian Federation is looking for a formal reason to attack Azerbaijan. In principle, this is possible, but it is also counterproductive. There was no demarche on the part of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry against the Russian Federation in connection with its refusal not to recognise the "elections" in the Garabagh economic region of Azerbaijan, where a new leader of the junta was "elected".

The Russian Federation should realise that Azerbaijan, a victim of occupation, cannot approve the holding of "elections" in the occupied territory of any country. It is so obvious! It is strange that such an experienced diplomat as Zakharova doesn't understand it.

"Ukraine supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the non-recognition of the so-called "presidential elections" on the territory of the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. Thus, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned the holding of elections on the territory of Garabagh, i.e. the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In general, everything is more than logical. So, I will emphasise once again that there are no real reasons for a demarche from the Russian side. And by the way, Zakharova should finally remember that there is no "Stepanakert" and "Nagorno-Garabagh", but there is Khankendi and the Garabagh economic region of Azerbaijan. On top of that, it is high time for her and her immediate superiors to analyse the reasons why Russia may finally lose the South Caucasus. What some experts in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia are increasingly talking about...

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