"I regret that POLITICOEurope, instead of apologizing to Azerbaijan and retracting its fake news article, continues to spread disinformation to mislead the European and global public," Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev noted on X as he commented on an article published by Politico, APA reports.
"Meanwhile, in the article of Politico, there is a reference to Azerbaijani media that official data showing that “Azerbaijan imported 141.6 million cubic meters of gas from Russia this year” The fact you referred to is a swap operation, not an import. Such seasonal exchanges occur between neighboring states and this is normal. I regret that the article fails to differentiate between swap and import. “The Southern Gas Corridor, which supplies EU markets, is only connected to Azerbaijani gas fields, not to the broader Azerbaijani natural gas system,” said Tim McPhie, the European Commission’s spokesperson on energy affairs. The EU official’s statement is entirely accurate, and we are fully aligned with that. Therefore, Azerbaijan did not import any gas from Russia in 2024. Period! Politico is unsuccessfully searching for a black cat in a dark room while knowing that the cat is not there. There is a fitting Azerbaijani proverb: “A liar has to be chased to the end," Hikmat Hajiyev noted.
