Ukrainian MP: PACE, Azerbaijani parliament should hold talks

Head of the ruling Servant of the People faction of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Davyd Arakhamia has said that the incident in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was a regrettable misunderstanding.

“Of course, we are very upset by the current situation. We, of course, support the territorial integrity of all countries within their internationally recognised borders, both in Azerbaijan and Georgia, my home country where I was born, and in Ukraine, where, unfortunately, such a bloody war is going on. Every country’s right is to defend its sovereignty, its internationally recognised borders,” Arakhamia told Azertac while commenting on the decision not to approve the Azerbaijani delegation’s powers at the PACE winter session.

“The incident in PACE is a misunderstanding. Emotions are unnecessary. Our parliamentary committee on foreign policy initiated an appeal both to the Azerbaijani side and to PACE. We have a request. We are not the subjects of this process, and we do not want to be involved. We want both sides to negotiate, to find a common solution and restore the Azerbaijani delegation’s activity in PACE because Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE have been working very effectively for many decades, sharing all values, multiculturalism, democratic values, etc. Therefore, this misunderstanding is more caused by emotions on both sides. There is no reason that can interrupt several decades of Azerbaijan’s representation in PACE. Therefore, I do not disclose any details,” Arakhamia said.

“Our MPs address both your parliament and the PACE leadership. I think that our appeal must play a role, because we, like no one else, today understand what it means to maintain unity. Unity today is a great value. When you have it, everyone thinks that it must be so, but when some incidents occur, we understand that unity is extremely important. Therefore, we, as a warring country, want to appeal to both sides with a request to negotiate and find a solution,” he said.

Azerbaijan is a country worthy of international recognition in all aspects

Reminding that he is not a PACE member, Arakhamia noted that he cannot assess PACE’s impact on the values.

“Proceeding from my personal experience of being in Azerbaijan many times, Azerbaijan is definitely a multicultural country, it is tolerant of completely different religions, nationalities. I walked a lot along the streets, talked to ordinary Azerbaijanis. I would like to note that the crime rate is very low, people really feel safe in this country. Therefore, I think that this is a country that deserves international recognition in all aspects. I hope that our initiative will help both your country and the PACE leadership find common ground and begin a dialogue that will lead to a positive result for all sides,” he said.

Congratulations to Ilham Aliyev on his re-election

While answering a question about the results of the snap presidential elections in Azerbaijan, Arakhamia congratulated Ilham Aliyev on his re-election.

“I personally know Mr. Aliyev. I also join the congratulations of the Ukrainian president, on behalf of the Ukrainian people. The Azerbaijani people are fraternal people for us. We have a lot of Azerbaijanis living in Ukraine, so I would like to sincerely wish prosperity to your country, robust health to your president. I would like all Azerbaijanis to be happy. You have a great historical victory. I was in Azerbaijan, when you had the first results of restoring territorial integrity, I was in a taxi and talked to the taxi driver. He said that of course, this event will last for centuries. Therefore, I join all the congratulations,” he added.

Azerbaijan is a country that rapidly sent aid to Ukraine during the war

Arakhamia, who highly appreciated Azerbaijan’s humanitarian assistance to Ukraine during the war, said that Azerbaijan is among the countries which quickly reacted to the situation in Ukraine. Azerbaijan is among the friends of Ukraine.

“When a terrorist attack was committed, the biggest hydroelectric power station in Europe was blown up, entire cities were flooded. I then phoned your country’s leadership and the first plane with the necessary goods arrived within 24 hours (then several more planes were sent). This was extremely important for us. Of course, some countries rendered more assistance, but Azerbaijan’s rapid reaction, sincerity and cordiality are very important. Therefore, we are grateful and will always be grateful to Azerbaijan for its timely assistance and friendly attitude,” he said.

Ukraine's situation with the war, unfortunately, is not so simple

While talking about the future of the Ukraine-Russia war, Arakhamia said that the course of the war today can be beneficial while tomorrow unbeneficial. The dynamics of the war may change.

“Unfortunately, our situation is not simple now, because we have issues related to international assistance. This has become the subject of domestic policy in the US. Nevertheless, we have very positive forecasts. We see that the Ukrainian and Russian losses are 1 to 3, 1 to 4 in favour of Ukraine, and we are at the stage of a defence operation. As always, proceeding from the laws of the army and the laws of war, those who defend themselves save more lives and hit the enemy more. Today the war is transforming. The whole world, all analysts are analysing the situation on the battlefield because traditional methods of destruction, traditional artillery, armoured vehicles - everyone already understands that it is not required, because it is replaced by drones, we have a war of drones. I previously read about the war of the future in NATO analytical notes. Unfortunately, we are already partially seeing it today on our battlefield," he said.

“Of course, we all want peace, but, of course, we want peace on terms favourable to us, rather than on other terms. We understand that we did not attack anyone. Aggression has been committed against us. That’s why the whole world today realise the whole situation, no matter how propaganda tries to misinterpret everything, everyone understands what happened. We lived quietly, and one fine day we were attacked. However, we will defend ourselves. The country is ready to defend itself. The authorities are ready to defend themselves. The Ukrainian people are ready to defend themselves. Our partners, allies and friends are always ready to help us,” he added.