Have you been taxed? No, you screwed up! - A few words to Grigory Karasin

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin suddenly resurfaced — and, as usual, couldn’t stay silent. He posted a message on his Telegram channel. The reason is quite simple: Moscow is reacting more and more painfully to Baku’s increasingly independent policy and Yerevan’s increasingly less pro-Russian course.

In his post, Karasin complained that the West is allegedly “systematically encircling Russia along the perimeter” and noted, with some indignation, that even Azerbaijan is now “speaking in a harsh tone,” while Pashinyan is supposedly “attacking the Armenian Church.” In the end, Karasin even resorted to threats — not against Azerbaijan, but against some “scriptwriters” in the West: don’t play with fire, he warned, or it won’t flare up just regionally — it’ll be global.

Grigory Borisovich, no one “encircled” you — you simply screwed up. For years, Russian federal TV channels have been smearing Azerbaijan almost daily. And by the way, most of the people doing the smearing just happen to have Armenian surnames. The problems didn’t start last year — last year was simply when the patience finally ran out. And not just in Azerbaijan.

Russia’s neighbors are not obliged to follow your script forever, chant your mantras about the “brotherhood of nations,” or express gratitude at every opportunity for tanks in the suburbs. And you're surprised that Baku is speaking harshly? How exactly do you expect a country to respond when its sovereign interests have been ignored for years, while you essentially supported the existing status quo and separatism? How should it react to the absurd ostrich game Moscow played after the Azerbaijani plane was shot down? Or to recent events? Did you really expect it all to be “quietly swallowed”? Well, to quote Arshavin: your expectations are your problems.

For decades, you've been lighting fires along your own borders with your own hands — and now you're surprised that the smoke is blowing in your face?