Day: February 18, 2023

Various channels of Russia are broadcast on cable television. These channels are mouthpieces of the Russian government. Against the background of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, lies and misinformation on these channels are not abating. The most interesting thing is that in the past some Western documentary channels have been replaced by Russian documentary channels on cable television. Russian documentary channels are also used as a propaganda tool. The two films I watched on these channels in the last few days directly served the imperial interests of Russia.

In the first documentary, Poland was blamed for the start of World War II along with Germany. According to the "logic" of the makers of the documentary, Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 was also caused by Warsaw's policy. The film, which is based on the criticism of Poland, does not talk about the occupation of the east of this country by the USSR in 1939 together with the Germans. The USSR generals delayed the liberation of the capital Warsaw whenever possible. There was nothing in the movie about that either. However, if the Polish insurgents against the German invaders were supported in Warsaw near the end of the war, the Polish capital could have been liberated sooner. USSR dictator Stalin deliberately delayed the liberation of Poland. There was nothing in the documentary about Stalin's order to kill thousands of Polish officers in the forests of Russia.

Second - the point of the documentary about Moldova was that this country has no future in its relations with Europe, Chisinau should try to unite with Russia, otherwise the country will be divided.

They show us all these movies. Those who know history will determine the extent of the lies in these films, while others will believe what is being said. That's the danger. There is a need for state structures that control cable television to pay attention to these issues. It is not an exception that the way of thinking that releases provocative films about Poland and Moldova will also release films against Azerbaijan.

The meeting of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with the President of the Council of the European Union Charles Michel on February 17 in the framework of the Security Conference in Munich is a sign that there are no problems in relations. Of course, the fact that the European Union sent an observer mission to Azerbaijan's line of contact with Armenia for a period of two years raised questions in Baku. However, this should not cause tensions between Baku and Brussels. The observer mission does not have the opportunity and status to create problems for Azerbaijan on the contact line. Azerbaijan is interested in expanding energy cooperation with the European Union, our main trade partners are in Europe.

Last year, 4 meetings between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia were held through the mediation of Charles Michel. The fifth meeting was caused by the intervention of France. However, the Azerbaijani president did not refuse the mediation of Brussels. On the contrary, Ilham Aliyev emphasized that Azerbaijan supports the Brussels peace process. It is no coincidence that in the meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Charles Michel, the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, negotiations on the peace treaty and the Brussels peace process were discussed. All that is required of Charles Michel is to exclude French President Emmanuel Macron from the negotiation process. Macron, who defends Armenia's position, is an obstacle to Brussels' mediation.

The statement of the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, at the last conference held in Moscow, that "Western countries have thrown the format of the Minsk Group into the dustbin of history" needs correction. Yes, the second part of the sentence reflects the truth, the Minsk Group format has been thrown into the dustbin of history. However, the group was not dumped by the West, it was done by Azerbaijan and Russia. After the victory in the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan officially announced its withdrawal from the Minsk Group. If one of the parties has refused the institution of co-chairmanship, the group cannot work. The second major blow to the format of the Minsk Group was the invasion war that Russia started against Ukraine in February of last year. Until the war of occupation, Moscow did not abandon the format of the Minsk Group. Since the USA and France have accepted sanctions against Russia, it was impossible for these 3 countries to discuss the Karabakh issue at the same table. If sanctions against Russia were not applied, today Russia would like to continue the work of the Minsk Group format together with the USA and France. However, this is not possible against the background of the Ukrainian war, and even if the war ends, the co-chairs will not be able to work together. Nevertheless, Yerevan still hopes that the Minsk Group format will be revived. It is no coincidence that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent his "peace proposals" to the co-chairing states - Russia, USA and France, along with Azerbaijan.