Envoy: Ukraine considers alternatives to return citizens from Azerbaijan

By Vugar Khalilov

Ukrainian ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladislav Kanevsky has said that his country is working on alternatives for the return of its citizens from Azerbaijan, Trend reported on February 25.

Kanevsky made the remarks at the press conference in Baku.

"The consular division of the embassy is also very actively involved in this issue. The main problem is that direct airlines cannot currently receive citizens, since the airspace is closed. Besides, the same problem exists through the territory of Georgia, through the Black Sea. There are certain options, routes that we are working on. This is a complex issue. We don't have a common border, but there are alternative routes and we are working on them," he underlined.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani ambassador to Moldova Gudsi Osmanov stated that the Azerbaijani embassy in Moldova along with the diaspora help Azerbaijani citizens to get from Ukraine to Moldova.

Due to the fact that the airspace of Ukraine is closed, Azerbaijani citizens currently do not have the opportunity to leave Ukraine by air, Osmanov said.

"In this regard, we emphasize that the citizens of Azerbaijan, who are in serious danger, can enter the territory of Moldova by land through the border checkpoints of Ocnita and Palanca, located on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. Moldova, due to the current humanitarian situation, will not demand COVID-passports from Azerbaijani citizens, who wish to cross the land border," he added.

The ambassador noted that the Moldovan government had created tent camps to accommodate those who arrived from Ukraine. There are also Azerbaijani citizens in those tent cities. Some of arriving Azerbaijani citizens are accommodated in dormitories.

"The airspace of Moldova is closed for known reasons. Therefore, our citizens cannot leave Moldova. Due to the closed airspace, Azerbaijani citizens must go from Moldova to the territory of Romania, then to Bulgaria, and from there to Istanbul. As a second way, our citizens must go to Bucharest and then fly to Istanbul," Osmanov said.

It should be noted that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters that 199 Azerbaijani citizens left Ukraine through the Ukrainian-Moldovan border on February 24-25.

Citizens with questions can contact the Azerbaijani embassy in Moldova by phone: +373 781 81 361, +373 789 91 849, +373 222 32 277, or by e-mail: [email protected], the statement added.

The ministry also offered the citizens to contact the Azerbaijani embassy in Kyiv by phone: (+380 73) 5050000 and by e-mail: [email protected], the Honorary Consulate in Kharkiv - (+38057) 7000531 and via [email protected] for special cases.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that in response to the appeal of the leaders of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Lugansk People's Republic" decided to conduct a special military operation in Eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities introduced martial law throughout the entire territory. Ukrainian media report explosions in a number of cities.