Ukraine’s Rada Official Twitter Page Welcomes Azerbaijani Aggression Against Karabakh

YEREVAN — A post on the official Twitter account of Ukraine’s Rada (parliament) supporting Azerbajiani aggression against Nagorno Karabakh has angered Armenians all over the world.

In its tweet on March 25 the Verkhovna Rada welcomed Azerbaijan’s latest actions in Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“Azerbaijani armed forces have gone on the offensive in Karabakh, taking advantage of the circumstance that Russia has been sending its troops to Ukraine,” it said, echoing media reports that Moscow has been redeploying some of its troops stationed in Armenia as well as peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh as reinforcements for fighting in Ukraine.

The tweet was posted amid reports of renewed fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh in which at least three Armenian soldiers were killed and over a dozen wounded on Friday.

Ukrainian Chargé d’Affaires to Armenia Denis Autonomov said on Friday that the Tweet does not reflect Kyiv’s position.

“This post does not reflect the position of official Kyiv in the context that we cannot be happy about a war. Now a war is ongoing in Ukraine as well. The issue was not discussed in the Verkhovna Rada, no decision was made. Our position on the territorial integrity of other countries is very well known. It applies to Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan,” Autonomov said.

The Ukrainian parliament’s Twitter post that caused anger in Armenian social media was later removed. The Ukrainian diplomat found it difficult to say why such a post appeared on an official account. “It is difficult for me to say who and why did such a thing. But now that tweet has been removed,” he said.

Talking to the news website Factor.am today, Armenian Ambassador to Ukraine Vladimir Karapetyan said that the Armenian embassy in Kyiv acted promptly on the tweet. “Due to our intervention immediately after the start of working hours here, it was deleted within 15 minutes,” he said.

Karapetyan said that the issue had been discussed with all relevant bodies of Ukraine and was considered “closed.”