Features of Positioning the Geopolitical Status of Ukraine in the Media-Discussion of the Countries Caucasus’s Region (at example of Azerbaijan)

Abstract

The article specifies the features of positioning the geopolitical status of Ukraine in the media discourse of the countries of the Caucasian region on the example of Azerbaijan. It is proved that the topic of Ukrainian-Russian relations is formally dominant in the discourse of Azerbaijani media, however, the story lines (Ukraine's membership in NATO, Ukraine's membership in the European Union as its geopolitical perspective, prospects for Soviet reintegration of Ukraine, Ukraine's activities in the UN) with which the content is filled with the meanings of this topic do not always reflect its essence, because in no title of this thematic block the Russian annexation of Crimea or aggression on Donbass.
 It is substantiated that an important aspect that characterizes the geopolitical status of Ukraine in the Azerbaijani media is the appeal to the comparison of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and Russian aggression in Ukraine. However, this aspect in the opposition edition is represented by the pro-Russian position. The study of the media discourse of Azerbaijan indicates that Russian aggression in Ukraine as a security threat has found its reflection in the national media in an insufficient level. The events and processes that unfold in Ukraine are positioned as phenomena developing in parallel with Azerbaijani realities, and the challenges to Ukraine's national security are positioned without projection to the level of national security of Azerbaijan.
 The conclusions note that the media discourse of Azerbaijan unambiguously links the prospects for the solution of the question of the annexation of Crimea and the cessation of armed aggression of Russia in Eastern Ukraine to (1) the European integration of Ukraine; (2) geopolitical support of the European Union; (3) US military and financial support. And domestic political factors have never been evaluated in the context of Ukraine's geopolitical prospects. The geopolitical prospects of Ukraine and the problem of its relations with Russia as an aggressor country were on the periphery of the Azerbaijan media discourse.
 Key words:Ukraine, geopolitical status, media discourse, Azerbaijan, political positioning