Journalist Vitaliy Portnykov said this on Espreso TV.“This is an interesting moment, how will they respond? Because this would be an open attack. Normally, if it weren’t Aliyev (Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan – ed.), they’d make some kind of propaganda statement. Medvedev would show up and say: ‘This scumbag, who thinks Ukrainians should take Russian land from us, damn him, he’s dragging us to a bourgeois court instead of thanking us.’ But I’m not sure they’ll act like that with Aliyev. That’s a good question,” he noted.Portnykov says the rift between Russia and Azerbaijan is growing.“From a political standpoint, it would make sense for Russia to attack Azerbaijan now. But do they have the resources? They’re all here (in Ukraine – ed.). And Aliyev knows it. And by the way, he tells us to fight. I think if Russian troops weren’t tied up here, he’d be more cautious in his statements. He’s a seasoned politician. He knows exactly what he can and can’t get away with. You saw how he played the Karabakh situation when he realized Russia wouldn’t back Armenia and Karabakh,” the journalist said.Portnykov added that Aliyev pushed further when he saw all Russian forces were stuck in Ukraine and wouldn’t intervene, so he expelled their so-called peacekeepers, who had been stationed there for years.“They had no plans to leave. They didn’t even want to let these so-called Russian peacekeepers into Karabakh or Armenia. They were trying to turn it into another South Ossetia. And we get what was going on. They even sent a Russian oligarch to run things. It was all part of the plan. But Aliyev kicked them all out because he knew no one would hold him accountable,” Portnykov added.He said Aliyev also knew Russia wouldn’t go beyond propaganda.“There’s a very good question here: is Putin ready to pick a fight with Erdogan over Azerbaijan? I’m not saying Erdogan would go to war with Putin. And I’m not even talking about the lack of a shared border between Turkey and Azerbaijan. But an attack on Azerbaijan would spark public outrage in Turkey. It’s hard to even picture. Erdogan would have to respond, if he doesn’t, they’ll call him a traitor. And he’ll help Azerbaijan. Putin knows this would mean a conflict not just with Aliyev, but with Erdogan too. So Putin might have to swallow it. But the question is: can he swallow it from a propaganda angle? Again, the war Putin hoped would strengthen his grip on the post-Soviet space has clearly and predictably weakened it,” the journalist concluded.