Why is Ukraine flirting with the occupant state? Rift between Baku and Kyiv on the horizon

If what Armenian media write about comes true, a huge, high-profile scandal may break out causing a deep rupture between Baku and Kyiv. According to Armenian media, Anna Hakobyan, i.e. the wife of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, will take part in the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, which kicks off today in Kyiv. That is, it is not a private visit of Madame Hakobyan to Ukraine, but her official participation in an international forum.

The website president.gov.ua says that the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is an international association of spouses of the world's top leaders, founded by the wife of the President of Ukraine Olena Zelenska in 2021 to share experiences and implement joint projects for the well-being of people around the world. The first and second summits were held in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The topics for discussion will include: "Ways to avoid the stigmatisation of mental health problems in society", "The impact of war on public mental health" and "Improving the mental health of young people". The topics are undoubtedly important. Zelenska believes that this event will help the global community to define and adhere to common values.

"All this time, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been ongoing, a crash test of the values of the whole world is taking place. Is the world ready to resist aggression or will it accept it? What will prevail - rules for all or brute force? Is there a place for justice, equal rights, and freedom in the modern world?

These are all questions that every country and every person has to answer for themselves. So I want not only joint decisions, but also the declaration of common values that we will all adhere to in order to make the world a more humane place," the Ukrainian first lady said.

Perhaps the idea of such a summit is in fact correct and very timely. But why was Hakobyan among those invited to participate in it? Judge for yourself: Anna Hakobyan is not a private person, she is the wife of the prime minister of the country, which for more than a quarter of a century kept 20 per cent of the territories of the neighbouring state under occupation.

In other words, Hakobyan is the life partner of the very Pashinyan who shouted that "Karabakh is Armenia, and that's it" and organised drunken dances in occupied Shusha.

Moreover, this woman is, in fact, one of the symbols of Armenia's aggression towards our country. She was the one who visited the Azerbaijani lands occupied at that time, having the nerve to invite Azerbaijanis to Shusha "to listen to mugham". She met with Armenian soldiers who fought on Azerbaijani soil against Azerbaijan, trying to keep our Azerbaijani territories under Yerevan's control. Anna Hakobyan inspired them to wage war against our country, our people.

This is not the only thing that is striking. Armenia still supports separatism, its state budget is used to finance Karabakh separatists, and illegal armed groups, which in Khankendi are hypocritically and falsely called "self-defence forces".

Moreover, these gangs are coordinated from Armenia through its Ministry of Defence. And how can Ukraine, which itself is suffering from separatism, occupation, the destruction of peaceful cities and the killing of civilians, accept the first lady of the country guilty of such heinous crimes against humanity?

And that's not all. Armenian business has long been working comfortably in Crimea annexed by Russia. And the guarantor of Armenia's security is the very Russia, which seized Crimea, supported and fuelled separatism in Donbas, and unleashed a full-scale war against Ukraine. Armenia is a member of the CSTO, and it is entirely dependent on Russia. The state borders of Armenia are guarded by Russian border guards. How, given all this, did Ukraine decide to welcome the first lady of Armenia?

Did not even the fact that Armenia is actively supporting Russia in the war against their homeland stop Olena Zelenska and the team of summit organisers? And there is plenty of evidence of this: according to a sensational article in The New York Times, in 2022, Armenia imported chips and microprocessors from the USA and the EU, respectively, by 515 and 212 per cent more than in 2021. At the same time, 97 per cent of the same products were resold by Armenia to Russia.

Such steps by official Kyiv, to put it mildly, are alarming. Why is Ukraine flirting with the occupant state? Why does Kyiv, by its actions, devalue the humanitarian aid and political support provided to it by Azerbaijan?

These questions did not arise out of the blue. They are provoked by the Ukrainian side. And I must say, not for the first time. At the end of July, Armenia started to stir up a new provocation with redoubled vigour, this time with a "humanitarian convoy" on the border with Azerbaijan.

To support this adventure, Yerevan summoned representatives of embassies and international organisations accredited in Armenia. So, among those who agreed to participate in yet another anti-Azerbaijani show was a Ukrainian diplomat...

Personally, I have repeatedly asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to comment on this case. There was no response. And now we see how the first lady of Armenia, who joyfully supported her country's war against Azerbaijan, is going to be welcomed in Kyiv. There are too many actions on the part of Ukraine, for which Azerbaijan struggles to find an explanation. This is official Kyiv's serious mistake, because the Russian-Ukrainian war is not over yet, and the loss of such an important and sincere friend as Azerbaijan will clearly not benefit Ukraine.

Akbar Hasanov