BAKU. Oct 5 (Interfax) - Armenia is trying to draw Russia into the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but Moscow is behaving very responsibly, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
"At the present time, we are cooperating with Russia on numerous forums at a very high level. We treat each other as strategic partners, which is reflected in some documents we have signed. In this particular case, Russia has showed itself as a great and responsible country. Russia has been a source of positive reports, and its statements have been restrained," Aliyev said in an interview with the Turkish TV channel TRT Haber.
Armenia is seeking to draw Russia into this conflict, Aliyev said. "Why is Armenia striking Azerbaijan from the territory of Armenia itself? So that we launch a counterstrike upon Armenia and then Armenia, in turn, would appeal to Russia and the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] for help," he said.
When Yerevan attempted to escalate tensions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in the Tovuz district in July 2020, its only goal was to provoke Azerbaijani troops into crossing the Armenian border, so Armenia could appeal to the CSTO to launch a joint military operation against Azerbaijan, Aliyev said.
"We had a chance to respond. However, we knew why they committed that provocative act. Armenia wants to draw Russia into this conflict. And I am sure they won't succeed in that," he said.