Azerbaijan has never been a strategic partner of Russia, believes Konstantin Zatulin, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Russian State Duma. In an interview with Lenta.ru, Zatulin offered his views on the relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.

To note, the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture has canceled all cultural events along the lines of  Russian state and private institutions. The pretext was the actions of Russian law enforcement against Azerbaijanis in the Sverdlovsk Region.

Zatulin noted that Azerbaijan is not a member of either the Eurasian Economic Union or the Collective Security Treaty, for whose members the concept of a “strategic partner” is used. Also, such membership does not protect against an openly anti-Russian course, he noted. Zatulin added that after the cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh from its Armenian population, Azerbaijan has stopped taking into account Russia's reaction.

“After that, the reason to wait for a possible negative reaction from Russia, to be wary of Russian interference in such an operation has disappeared from the Azerbaijani leadership. The need for special relations with Russia has ceased to be essential,” the Russian lawmaker said.

According to him, Azerbaijan, even without Nagorno-Karabakh, like Russia, should have benefited from cooperation in trade and economy. Zatulin emphasized that a large number of Azerbaijanis work in Russia as labor migrants, and there are also a large number of people of Azerbaijani ethnicity among Russian citizens.

“But at the same time, Azerbaijan has not been a strategic partner from the very beginning, which our side is mistaken about, throughout the history of its independence. Our [i.e. Russia’s] plans to use Azerbaijan as an element of the North-South corridor, in my opinion, are very problematic. Although this work continues, it has not yet led to a breakthrough,” concluded the Russian legislator.