The Azerbaijani authorities may lift the arms embargo on supplying weapons to Ukraine following Russian strikes on facilities of the republican state company SOCAR in the Odessa region. According to Caliber sources, such a decision will be made if Moscow continues its “aggressive policy” against Baku’s interests.
On Sunday, August 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. They “condemned the targeted Russian airstrikes” on the republic’s facilities and a gas compressor station that transports Azerbaijani gas to Ukraine.
Zelensky called the attacks an attempt by Moscow to block energy routes that guarantee energy independence for Ukraine and its European partners. The leaders of both countries emphasized that this “under no circumstances will lead” to a halt in their cooperation in the energy sector.
Russian forces launched five Shahed-type kamikaze drones at the SOCAR oil depot in the Odessa region on the night of August 7-8. The strike caused a fire and damaged a diesel pipeline; four company employees suffered serious injuries.
This was the second attack in a week on energy facilities linked to the Caucasian republic in the Odessa region — on the night of August 6, Russian forces attacked the Orlovka compressor station in the village of Novoselske, through which Azerbaijani gas has been supplied to Ukraine via the Trans-Balkan pipeline since June 28. The Ministry of Energy specified that the station was deliberately targeted by “dozens of drones,” partly to damage Kyiv’s trade relations with Baku and other partners.
Azerbaijan began supplying gas to Ukraine based on an agreement between SOCAR and Naftogaz. Kyiv noted at the time that although the volumes were small, they held “strategic significance."
