In general, the tension with Azerbaijan seems to have calmed down a bit, but the conversation continues - "Minval" published the names of the Russian military allegedly guilty of the destruction of the AZAL plane.

Axar.az reports that this was said by Russian political scientist Alexei Naumov.

"There is no doubt that Azerbaijan is heading (or was heading) towards serious tension. And here there are two questions: "Why?" and "For what?"

Let's start with the answer to the first question, which is a bit broader than the usual one, because it can allow itself to do so (or thinks so). Baku could have chosen a different reaction to what happened to the Safarovs in Yekaterinburg - especially since things seemed to be moving towards normalization - the Russian orchestra was removed from Iranian territory via Azerbaijan - but Baku chose the path of "confusion" in the state media. There are all sorts of madness on the menu, from "This is a message to Baku" to "the chauvinist system in Russia." It would be wrong to consider this a purely emotional reaction, although such an aspect certainly exists. Russian-Azerbaijani relations are relations between two leaders of power who stand at the head of rigidly centralized systems. Such systems are built mainly on respect and informal relations. It is assumed that everything is always calm on the outside, and all real problems are solved behind the scenes, according to unofficial understandings. It is clear that the current crisis arose after the failed attempt to solve the AZAL plane problem in the usual behind-the-scenes way "We all understand, it was a coincidence, admit it, apologize and at the same time emphasize that Ukrainians are shelling peaceful airports and putting people in danger, we need to save face, admit it and move forward," - I am sure that this is what they thought and think in Baku. Russia did not take this step. No convincing alternative version has yet been presented. Fragments of the warheads of HHM missiles were found by the Kazakh commission - it seems that the story could have been hushed up and continued in the spirit of "fraternal peoples", but the official decision remains unchanged: we are waiting for the results of the investigation. It was possible to gain time with words like "Yes, we hear your version, if it is confirmed, do not doubt, within the framework of allied relations, we will solve everything, punish everyone." But Russia did not take such a step. It was decided to follow the formal procedure - there is a commission, there is an investigation, there will be a result, then we will talk.

Again, we believe that the negotiations the behind-the-scenes line has failed. This is a legal line of behavior, but in Russian-Azerbaijani relations, frankly, it is unusual. As if we are not talking about a state in the South Caucasus with a clear and familiar president, political regime, and people, but about some Belgium or Luxembourg. The international court “AZAL vs. Russia” is an action with the same logic: it is not serious to pin hopes on any international court. This is evidence of resentment, insult: “You are acting with us according to formal logic and public processes? We will do the same thing”. Both sides understand very well that the conflict will not be resolved and will not come closer to a solution in this way. This is an approximate answer to the question “why is everything the way it is?”, - he said.