The Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin greeted each other with a handshake on the sidelines of a parade in China. However, this did not continue with communication.
Ilham Aliyev, together with First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, arrived at Tiananmen Square, where they were met by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs Konstantin Zatulin said that the handshake between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan at the SCO summit is a normal manifestation of protocol, and not a political signal.
“I cannot imagine Putin turning away from Aliyev and not shaking hands. Of course, there is protocol,” he noted.
It was previously reported that Putin ordered state media to begin a campaign to criticize the policies of the Azerbaijani president, which Moscow considers “anti-Russian.”
In a recent interview with Al Arabiya, Aliyev drew parallels between the current conflict in Ukraine and the Soviet Union's annexation of Azerbaijan in 1920, calling both events "a Russian invasion and occupation."
