Latest news with #RussiaAzerbaijan
Russia Today
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Moscow working to release journalists detained in Baku
Russian officials are working closely with the local authorities in Azerbaijan to secure the release of Russian citizens detained in the country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He emphasized that Russia and Azerbaijan must strive to maintain their historically friendly relations despite the current tensions. Several Russian nationals, including journalists working for the Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency, were arrested last week during a police raid on the outlet's office in Baku. Authorities have accused the detainees, which include senior Sputnik editors Igor Kartavykh and Evgeny Belousov, of fraud and illegal business activity. Sputnik has dismissed the accusations as 'absurd.' Speaking to reporters on Monday, Peskov stated that Moscow is 'in constant contact with the Azerbaijani side' and is 'defending the interests of the detained Russian citizens using all legal avenues and the existing diplomatic practices.' The spokesman said Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov and Investigative Committee head Aleksandr Bastrykin have also been in direct contact with their Azerbaijani counterparts. Peskov underlined Russia's commitment to maintaining its historically close relationship with Azerbaijan. 'We continue to believe – and logic dictates – that Russia and Azerbaijan are and must remain close partners, allies, and countries with a common history, present, and future,' he said. 'All problems that arise must undoubtedly be resolved in a constructive manner that reflects the spirit of our bilateral relations,' Peskov stressed. The arrest of Russian nationals in Baku came shortly after a Russian police raid in Ekaterinburg last week. The operation targeted an alleged organized crime group composed of Russian citizens of Azerbaijani origin. Two elderly suspects died during the raid, reportedly from heart failure and unspecified causes. Azerbaijani officials have claimed the men were beaten to death in custody and have opened a homicide investigation. Since the Russian operation, Baku has taken a series of steps viewed by Moscow as retaliatory, including the raid on Sputnik's office. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow has condemned the arrests as 'unlawful' and summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador to lodge a formal protest. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned that 'outside forces' may be trying to damage Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Speaking to reporters last week, she stressed that friendly ties remain essential for both nations and cautioned against efforts to escalate the dispute.
Russia Today
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia names its priority in relations with Azerbaijan amid rift
Maintaining friendly bilateral relations is important for both Russia and Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has insisted, commenting on the current flare-up between Moscow and Baku. On Tuesday, a court in Baku ordered the four-month pre-trial detention of two Russian journalists who hold senior positions in Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency. The country's authorities claim the outlet has been operating 'through illegal financing,' with Sputnik dismissing the allegations as 'absurd.' Moscow has accused Baku of 'hostile actions and unlawful detention of Russian journalists.' The arrests followed a police raid last week on an alleged ethnic organized crime group in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, composed of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin. Two elderly suspects died during the operation, with the preliminary assessment indicating that at least one of them suffered heart failure. The incident sparked outrage among Azerbaijani politicians, who accused Moscow of targeting people based on ethnicity. Speaking to Sputnik Radio on Wednesday, Zakharova said that the reaction to the rift in both Russia and Azerbaijan is 'acute' because the two countries have been 'building such relations… for many years, which are based on taking mutual interests into account and respect.' According to the spokeswoman, the ties between the peoples of the countries, which used to be part of the Soviet Union, are also very close. 'There are families and history, there is… mutual enrichment of cultures, and there are business connections in different areas,' she explained. 'For the two peoples, friendly relations are of paramount importance. And those who are looking to spoil them should think carefully about what they are doing,' Zakharova said without elaborating. There are those who want 'to simply make money' by creating tensions between Moscow and Baku, she added, warning that they may well end up 'getting burned.' The spokeswoman also said that it was 'extremely important' that the Russian Investigative Committee immediately ordered a probe into the deaths of suspects during the police raid in Yekaterinburg. The authorities in Baku should 'take this into account,' she insisted.
Arab News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Russia says certain forces are out to wreck ties between it and Azerbaijan, RIA reports
MOSCOW: The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that certain forces were trying to wreck Moscow's ties with Azerbaijan and that they should think hard about what they were doing, the state RIA news agency reported. The statement came amid rising tensions between the two countries after two Russian state journalists were arrested in Baku and a further around 15 more Russians arrested separately on suspicion of drug trafficking and cybercrime. The arrests followed Russian police raids against ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Russia suspected of involvement in serious crimes in which two men died. RIA cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying it regarded its relationship with Baku as extremely important and that it believed the arrest of the Russian journalists was not connected to their work but motivated by other considerations. The pair have since been charged with fraud and other crimes by a Baku court.
LBCI
30-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Russia summons Azerbaijan envoy over journalist detentions, RIA reports
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had summoned Azerbaijan's ambassador to Moscow over what it described as Baku's "unfriendly actions" and the "illegal detention" of Russian journalists working in the country. Tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan rose earlier on Monday after the Kremlin said it disagreed with a decision by Azerbaijan to cancel Russian cultural events in response to the arrest in Russia of a group of ethnic Azerbaijanis suspected of serious crimes. Reuters
