Putin and Zelenskyy congratulate Azerbaijan’s Aliyev for his election win after retaking Karabakh

By AIDA SULTANOVA
Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The Ukrainian and Russian presidents have congratulated Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev after his expected landslide election win. Vladimir Putin called Aliyev and discussed their “continued partnership” while Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he appreciated Azerbaijan’s help to Ukraine. Preliminary results released on Thursday indicated Aliyev’s resounding victory in the presidential vote. The head of the Central Election Commission said most votes from Wednesday’s balloting had been counted and Aliyev was winning the race with more than 92% of votes in his favor. His challengers trailed far behind as Aliyev headed into another, seven-year term in office just months after his troops retook the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian forces who controlled it for three decades.