Ukrainian journalist Olena Kurbanova presented Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev with chevrons from Ukrainian Armed Forces units during a media forum in Shusha.
During the meeting, Kurbanova thanked Aliyev for the restoration of Nagorno-Karabakh before presenting him with the collection of military patches from various Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades.
“This is the most valuable thing — chevrons of our defenders. Because our army is the only guarantee of security for Ukraine. The most valuable thing we have,” Kurbanova told Aliyev, according to the YouTube footage.
Aliyev responded by thanking the Ukrainian journalist: “Thank you for what you are doing. Keep up the good work.”
The exchange occurred against the backdrop of Aliyev’s previous statements supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The Azerbaijan president advised Ukrainians never to agree to occupation of their territories, drawing parallels with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Never agree to occupation. That’s the main advice. This is what we did,” Aliyev said at the Shusha Media Forum when responding to questions from Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon.
The Azerbaijan president recalled that the UN Security Council had adopted four resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh, but the international community failed to achieve their implementation.
“We decided that we would create new realities, and you would have to accept them. That’s what happened,” Aliyev said, advising Ukrainians not to give up and do the same.
The diplomatic gesture comes as Azerbaijan-Russia relations have deteriorated significantly over the past year. In December 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines civilian aircraft crashed in Kazakhstan after being allegedly hit by Russian air defense systems in Grozny during a Ukrainian drone attack on the city. The incident killed 38 people, with Baku holding Moscow responsible.
Relations further soured in June 2025 when brothers Ziyaddin and Hussein Safarov, considered main suspects in the murder of businessman Yunis Pashayev, died during mass searches and detentions of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry demanded an investigation, accusing FSB officers of “brutal murder” of the republic’s nationals and delivering a protest note to Russia’s ambassador in Baku.
The tensions escalated with a series of mutual detentions and arrests in both countries. On 16 July, a Yekaterinburg court sent Mutvali Shikhli’s son, head of the Ural Azerbaijani diaspora, to pretrial detention on charges of using violence against a Russian government representative.
Azerbaijan’s control over Nagorno-Karabakh was established in September 2023 when Baku launched what it called “anti-terrorist measures” to “restore constitutional order.” The unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh capitulated on 20 September 2023, after Azerbaijan claimed to have “completed all tasks of the anti-terrorist operation” and “restored sovereignty” within 24 hours.
On 30 September 2023, Azerbaijan recognized Armenia’s territorial integrity. The unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh ceased to exist on 1 January 2024.