Ukrainian diplomat in Armenia under fire for visiting Lachin checkpoint Kyiv’s anti-Azerbaijani move

The first time is an accident, the second time is a coincidence, and the third time is a realized pattern. This formula quite accurately characterizes the actions of Ukrainian diplomats and politicians towards Azerbaijan. Yes, officially President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declare the recognition and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Ukraine’s previous presidents and foreign ministers said the same. However, in practice, we too often see an attitude, to put it mildly, of a different nature.

At present, Armenia, as known, has begun with a vengeance to inflate a new provocation - this time with a "humanitarian convoy" on the border with Azerbaijan. To support this adventure, Yerevan convened representatives of embassies and international organizations, accredited in Armenia. Therefore, among those who agreed to participate in the next anti-Azerbaijani show, there was also a representative of the Ukrainian embassy in Armenia.

I will immediately note that the charge d'affaires of Ukraine in this country is Oleksandr Senchenko, who, by the way, worked in Azerbaijan for several years as an economic adviser to the Ukrainian ambassador. That is, A. Senchenko is well aware of the essence, causes, and consequences of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. However, this did not prevent the employees of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Armenia from taking part in an openly anti-Azerbaijani action, organized by the Armenian government.

It is striking that Ukrainian diplomats stood shoulder to shoulder with representatives of the embassies of Russia, Belarus, and Iran. Russia is a country that has annexed Crimea, occupied the Donbas and other territories, and has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for a year and a half. During this time, the Russian military destroyed several Ukrainian cities and killed a huge number of civilians.

Belarus and Iran are the closest allies of Russia. Nevertheless, the representative of the Ukrainian embassy in Armenia stood side by side with representatives of Russia, Belarus, and Iran. Nonsense.

Yesterday, I called the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to get a comment on such an amazing occasion. I was advised to send a written question to press@mfa.gov.ua. I did. There is no answer so far. Nor did I receive it from Oleg Nikolenko, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, who usually comments on everything related to the activities of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. This is already ignoring a fair request from a media representative of Azerbaijan, a country that is a strategic partner of Ukraine.

Unlike Armenia, whose Prime Minister Pashinyan has repeatedly stated that Russia is the guarantor of the security of his country and does not support Ukraine, Azerbaijan has been providing humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians since the first days of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Moreover, the Republic of Armenia is part of the CSTO, and there is a Russian military base on its territory. A volunteer detachment Arbat, consisting of Armenians of the Russian Federation, recently left Russia to fight against Ukraine. According to Ukrainian media reports, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed it. But there is no escape from the very fact of the participation of Russian Armenians in the war against Ukraine.

It is unlikely that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the embassy of this country in Armenia are not aware of all this. It is hard to believe that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry does not know that Armenia has never helped Ukraine even a single penny. Whereas Azerbaijan provided Ukraine with very solid assistance and at the official level. Quite recently, by the way, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ordered the allocation of funds to the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The document states that, based on the principles of humanism, Azerbaijan provides humanitarian assistance to many countries of the world, including Ukraine, on a bilateral and multilateral basis.

The Azerbaijani state indeed repeatedly sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian people. Now, at the government level, a decision has been made to allocate 7.6 million dollars in manat equivalent for the purchase and shipment of electrical equipment to Kyiv.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan is the leader among the countries of the former USSR, with the exception of the Baltic countries (they are members of NATO and the EU and use the corresponding opportunities) in terms of the scale of assistance provided to Ukraine. Nevertheless, despite all this, a representative of the Ukrainian embassy in Armenia took part in the anti-Azerbaijani action though not a single Azerbaijani diplomat has ever joined anti-Ukrainian actions.

Overall, it’s time to ask a question: was there at least one case when a representative of Ukraine spoke in international organizations about the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, about the genocide in Khojaly, about Aghdam that was turned into a “Caucasus Hiroshima”, about the bombing of our cities during 44- day war? It wasn't, never. On the other hand, deputies from Ukraine in PACE often voted for anti-Azerbaijani resolutions, as, for example, happened in 2017. And then these Ukrainian parliamentarians shrugged their shoulders when they were asked how this could happen.

As you can see, there are many examples of anti-Azerbaijani manifestations committed by Ukrainian politicians. So, the other day, the former adviser to the Minister for Information Reintegration of Crimea, Yulia Kazdobina, wrote on Twitter: “One thing that I didn’t know about before visiting #Armenia is that there is now a blockade of #Karabakh.” That is, in fact, she called to support Armenia in its anti-Azerbaijani actions.”

I must admit that I personally have many times come across openly pro-Armenian statements by Ukrainian politicians. For example, an article entitled "Ukraine must decide on a strategy in the Transcaucasus" was born a few months ago by the people's deputy of Ukraine of the sixth convocations, and now a political strategist Viktor Ukolov.

Think about the scale of immorality: a Ukrainian political scientist and political strategist advocates for the extension of the stay of Russian peacekeepers in the zone of their temporary deployment in Karabakh! Imagine, he claims that “in the event of the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers, the only communication between Karabakh and Armenia may be broken and this may lead to the loss of Artsakh for Armenia”. A shocking position for a political strategist and former MP from a country that is now at war with Russia!

I'm not talking about the regular nasty and stupid things against our country, spewed out by the ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the Radical Party of Oleg Lyashko, the infamous Igor Mosiychuk. He once openly stated that "Artsakh" should have the right to self-determination. Not a single Azerbaijani MP, current or former, has ever declared that Crimea and Donbas are Russian territory. But here, as we see, the opposite is true. By the way, Mosiychuk at one time even claimed that “Azerbaijanis, who reproach Ukrainians with humanitarian aid and the participation of their compatriots in the war on the side of Ukraine, are the highest blackmailers and they should go towards the Russian warship!” That is, he does not shun insults against our people.

In addition, this is despite the fact that everyone in Azerbaijan still honors the memory of those Ukrainians who participated and died in the battles for the territorial integrity of our country. The Azerbaijani state provides financial support to their families. Meanwhile, the families of Azerbaijanis who died in the current war for the territorial integrity of Ukraine have not yet received a single hryvnia from the Ukrainian state.

I also have to add that many Ukrainian media regularly publish anti-Azerbaijani articles. In particular, Evropeyskaya Pravda stamped out texts, the essence of which boils down to justifying the actions of the Russian-Armenian oligarch Ruben Vardanyan. The same Vardanyan, who is included in the database of the "Peacemaker" center "as having committed deliberate acts against the national security of Ukraine, peace, the security of mankind, and the international legal order!" These are the realities.

And this list of anti-Azerbaijani manifestations of Ukrainian politicians, diplomats, public figures, and journalists can be continued for a long time. There are completely different people in it, with different political views. They are not directed from a single center. However, it is impossible to call all this accidental. This is a pattern that stems from the peculiarities of the worldview. In addition, Baku, too, perhaps, needs to draw conclusions, taking into account these very “features”.