Baku is burning bridges, or ...

The coldness in relations between Baku and Moscow, which arose after the crash of a civilian airplane, seems to be growing.

Baku increasingly and more often makes it clear to Moscow that it will not allow the death of the plane and its citizens to be hushed up.

After Illham Aliyev's loud statements on December 29 with direct accusations against the Russian side, there was a pause.

However, Baku's hopes that Moscow would recognize the mistakes failed to materialize. Hints in the Russian media and social networks that there was no shelling of the plane, the pilots themselves said that a cylinder exploded on board and there was a collision with birds, led to new escalation.

This time Baku acted on a far larger scale. Few people paid attention to the increased contacts of officials in Baku with Ukrainian diplomats. So far, the authorities have tried not to irritate Moscow by ignoring Kiev's representatives.

Ilham Aliyev's meeting with Vladimir Zelensky in Davos is a step from the same series and, apparently, not the last one.

Publications of Moscow newspapers that the crash of AZAL airplane was the American and Ukrainian handiwork, as well as the statement of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov that decoding of black boxes proved that Russians were not involved in the death of the airplane, made Baku furious.

AZTV accused Moscow of impeccability and dishonesty. 

Pro-government media received a command to expose Russia's “spy nest” in the center of Baku.

This was followed by an unprecedented threat that Baku would sue Moscow in an international court if it did not admit guilt for shooting down the plane.

Such harsh rhetoric may considerably complicate bilateral relations, however, experience shows that Ilham Aliyev's emotionality and his playing on the edge of the foul is more calculated than a manifestation of political recklessness. It is also a demonstration of the very slogan that Azerbaijan will not allow anyone to disregard itself.

Whether this is real or yet an over-estimation of its own importance, the future will show.