Cheek aimed at Putin. The former ally turns away from Russia and helps Ukraine. This is the aftermath of the Russian crime
Ukraine imports gas for the first time from the former Russian ally. Azerbaijan saves the Ukrainian economic and energy situation, which causes fury in the Kremlin. Kiev's cooperation with Baku is part of the growing conflict between Azerbaijan and Moscow.
The situation has completely reversed – Moscow too many times showed contempt for a smaller state, which is fed up with via.
– I am convinced that if the government decides to continue moving away from the Russian Federation and strengthen relations with Turkey, it will only meet with support and approval – he says in an interview with “New Gazieta” Agil Rustamzade, an analyst for military and former pilot of the Azerbaijani Air Force.
“Azerbaijan is ready to respond to unfriendly steps,” adds the expert.
For the first time, Ukraine signed a agreement on the import of natural gas from Azerbaijan due to the dramatic situation in warehouses across the country.
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In connection with Russian attacks aimed at the energy network, Ukraine found itself in a difficult situation. On the other hand, the support of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Alijew – whose alliance with Vladimir Putin has recently suffered a lot.
The Ukrainian state energy giant Naftohaz signed the first agreement for the import of natural gas from Azerbaijan. The contract was concluded at a time when gas reserves in Ukrainian warehouses have fallen to the lowest level in 11 years. Russia has largely destroyed Ukrainian gas production. Naftohaz lost half the production capacity of the raw material.
Due to the upcoming winter, Ukraine accelerated gas imports to ensure sufficient delivery before the start of the heating season.
The first test transport of the raw material is supplied with the Bulgaria-Rumunia-Ukrain transbałan pipeline, opening the new supply trail to Kiev. Sergei Korecki, president of Naftohazu, called the agreement another example of diversification of gas supply sources.
“This is a small but strategically important step that paves the way to long -term cooperation,” he said.
Ukraine is getting ready for the winter
The Minister of Energy of Ukraine Svetlana Grinczuk wrote on her Facebook profile that the import of gas through the Transbałkański gas pipeline will provide access to Greek and Turkish terminals of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as Romanian and potentially Bulgarian maritime production.
The Transbałkański gas pipeline, currently one of the key pipelines for Ukraine, was built in the 1980s as part of the Soviet strategy for the supply of southeastern Europe to natural gas.
He was used to transport Russian gas from Ukraine through Moldovia, Romania and Bulgaria to Turkey and further to Greece, North Macedonia and other parts of the Balkans. Until 2020, gas flowed from north to south, i.e. from Russia to Turkey.
After starting Turkish Stream, gas is currently transported in the opposite direction, from Turkey to Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. The reverse allows the Balkan countries to become independent only from Russian gas from Ukraine.
The expected transmission capacity of the gas pipeline is about 17-20 billion cubic meters. annually. In the past, almost all capacity was used to extract Russian gas, but since 2020 it has been used much less often.
Currently, the potential of the pipeline is used only partly, with a tendency to increase the amount of gas from various sources (Azerbaijan, LNG from Greece, Reverse from Turkey).
In addition to the agreement with Azerbaijan, Ukraine has concluded several contracts for delivery for the upcoming winter. Naftohaz has signed four contracts with Orlen (Earlier, companies have concluded a cooperation memorandum) for the delivery of 440 million cubic meters. American liquefied natural gas (LNG), with the last contract announced on July 2 with an additional 140 million cubic meters.
According to the estimates of the “Bloomberg” website, in 2025, Ukraine could bring a record five billion m cubic meter from Europe.
Putin's conflict with Alijew is gaining strength
And in addition to the fact that Ukraine urgently needs gas to fill its warehouses for the winter, the fact of cooperation with Azerbaijan is important for another reason – a blow to Putin.
The split between Russia and Azerbaijan resulted from a series of serious incidents over the past year, which completely changed the dynamics of cooperation between Putin and Alijew.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Azerbaijan Ilham AlijewContributor / Getty Images / Getty Images
The main event was the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, which took place on December 25, 2024. The plane was on the way to Terrody in Chechnya and crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. The plane, according to experts, was hit by the Russian air defense rocket. The investigation in this matter continues.
Although Putin made condolences to Alijew, the Russian president did not take responsibility for shooting down the aircraft, and the President of Azerbaijan demanded confession and punishment of guilty.
Alijew then did not take part in the parade on the occasion of the victory day in Moscow. The next escalation occurred in June, when the Russian police conducted a roundup in Ekaterinburg at suspicious Azerbaijan origin. Two ethnic Azeries were killed in suspicious circumstances. Baku immediately initiated an official investigation and strongly condemned the actions of the Russian police as brutal and motivated by the ethnicity of the detainees.
In response on July 1, 2025, the authorities in Baku ordered a raid on the offices of the propaganda agency “Sputnik Azerbaijan” and detained employees, accusing them of criminal activities. Russia responded with diplomatic protests.
