President of Azerbaijan declines invitation to May 9 parade in Moscow

Baku has announced that the Azerbaijani leader plans to participate in domestic events instead.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will not travel to Moscow to attend the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day. This was confirmed by Yury Ushakov, aide to the President of Russia.

Earlier, Ushakov stated that the Kremlin had invited the leaders of 29 countries, including the Azerbaijani president, to the May 9 parade in Moscow.

"Unfortunately, we’ve received word that Aliyev will not be attending. They explained that he will be participating in domestic events dedicated to Heydar Aliyev," said Ushakov.

Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have cooled since December 2024, following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft in Kazakhstan. According to media reports, the crash was caused by Russia’s air defense system.

Ilham Aliyev last attended the May 9 parade in Moscow in 2015.