Azerbaijan appears intent on following Armenia’s path; however, a course of distancing itself from Russia and moving closer to Europe has never brought success to anyone, State Duma deputy Alexander Tolmachev said. He made the comment to Lenta.ru.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Baku seeks to begin a strategic dialogue with Germany that would take relations between the two countries to a new level. He noted that Azerbaijani-German relations would contribute to cooperation, peace, and stability in the region.

“Baku appears intent on following Yerevan’s path. I would note that a course of distancing oneself from Russia and moving closer to Europe has not yet brought success to anyone. On the contrary, as practice shows, such a decision results in economic and political problems. Armenia is already dealing with the difficulties that arose as a result of severing reliable, strong, and promising ties with Russia. It is regrettable that Azerbaijan is not learning from the mistakes of Ukraine and Armenia,” Tolmachev said.

The lawmaker emphasized that there is “nothing wrong” with partnering with European countries, but the problem is that these “new friends” make breaking ties with Russia their main condition.

“And this concerns not only the economic aspect, but also the cultural, spiritual, and historical ones. The country is being forced to renounce its shared past and give up a productive future with Russia. In return, it gets indulgence and a brief pat on the head from the ‘European master.’ And then the real game begins according to a familiar pattern: having deprived a neighboring country of cooperation with Moscow, leaving it without protection and support, the Europeans consume it like a chess piece,” Tolmachev added.