Azerbaijan will deliver $1 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the form of electrical equipment to support the country's energy grid, President Ilham Aliyev's office announced on Feb. 5.
"Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ukraine are developing on the basis of friendship and partnership," a statement from Aliyev's office read.
Azerbaijan previously provided Ukraine with a batch of equipment for the restoration of the country's energy grid following the winter of 2023. Baku has also delivered at least 10 shipments of humanitarian aid for the energy sector since the start of the full-scale invasion, including at least 50 reserve power stations and 45 power transformers.
The funding will come from the president's allocated reserve budget and will allow the country's Energy Ministry to disperse the aid directly to Kyiv.
"In connection with the current situation in Ukraine, the Azerbaijani state has repeatedly sent humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people," Aliyev's office said in a statement.
In recent months, President Volodymyr Zelensky has attempted to form closer ties with Aliyev, offering Ukraine to serve as transit hub for Azerbaijani gas to Europe, following the suspension of Russian gas flows to the continent.
Azerbaijan, who has maintained historical ties with Russia, has seen relations with Moscow dwindle in recent months following the Dec. 25 crash of Flight J2-8243, which killed 38 people. Aliyev has accused Russia of causing the crash, accusing the Kremlin of a "disaster" caused by the "representatives of the Russian Federation."
On Feb. 4, an unnamed Azerbaijani official told Reuters that the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir air defense missile after diverting from Russian airspace.
Martin Fornusek
