On July 30, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of intending to exploit tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan. She claimed the SBU planned to incite national hatred by organizing sabotage acts against Azerbaijani citizens and cultural sites, using paid Russian defectors to carry out the provocations under the Russian flag. Zakharova stated the goal was to disseminate disinformation about alleged Russian aggression in Azerbaijani, Turkish, and European media.

Answering a question about discussions in Azerbaijan about deepening cooperation with NATO, Zakharova also referenced Armenia. She stated that NATO has long sought to entrench itself in the South Caucasus to use the region in its geopolitical confrontation with Russia. She accused the West of acting as "typical colonizers" and warned that countries like Azerbaijan and Armenia should recognize the risks of escalating tensions through closer ties with the alliance. "Wherever the North Atlantic Alliance appears, confrontation is imposed, military tensions grow, the words ‘peace’, ‘stability’, ‘normality’ are forgotten," she stated.