A new diplomatic scandal has erupted in Russia: TASS Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman has been dismissed following his visit to Azerbaijan. According to Russian media, the decision was made at the highest level, indicating a clear political motive behind the move.

Unofficial sources report that during his visit to Baku, Gusman held several meetings with high-ranking Azerbaijani officials, including representatives of President Ilham Aliyev’s administration. The Russian side regarded his trip as an unauthorized and politically sensitive action, especially amid heightened tensions in Russian-Azerbaijani relations following recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh and Baku’s growing alignment with Ankara.

Official statements from TASS and the Kremlin merely cited “organizational changes in the agency’s management”, but diplomatic sources claim that the dismissal was personally supervised by the Russian Presidential Administration.

Notably, Gusman, an influential media executive of Azerbaijani origin, has long been a prominent advocate for strengthening humanitarian ties between Russia and Azerbaijan. His dismissal can be seen as a strong signal to Baku, reflecting Moscow’s dissatisfaction with Azerbaijan’s increasingly independent foreign policy and its close cooperation with Turkey.

Since Russian peacekeepers effectively withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan established full control over the region, Moscow has grown increasingly displeased with Turkey’s rising influence and its own diminishing presence in the South Caucasus. Gusman may have been perceived as too closely connected to Azerbaijani elites, which, under current circumstances, is deemed unacceptable by the Kremlin.

The move also serves as a warning to Russian officials and media executives who maintain personal ties with elites in post-Soviet countries. The Kremlin is making it clear that foreign policy loyalty outweighs personal connections and business interests.

This decision is unlikely to pass without consequences: Baku may interpret Gusman’s dismissal as an unfriendly gesture. Azerbaijan is already expanding its cooperation with Ankara and the West, and such actions by Moscow may only accelerate Baku’s geopolitical drift away from Russia.

Gusman’s firing is unlikely to be the last episode in the series of diplomatic disputes between Moscow and Baku. Russia is steadily losing influence in the South Caucasus, while Azerbaijan, strengthening its military and economic cooperation with Turkey and Western countries, will increasingly ignore Moscow’s interests. In response, the Kremlin may attempt to exert economic and media pressure on Azerbaijan, but its capabilities in the region are now significantly limited.

#RUSSIA

#AZERBAIJAN

26.07.2025 10:34