Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and Russia exchanged notes of protest

Official Baku demanded an investigation into the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane and compensation for the victims after Moscow protested against the actions of Azerbaijani security forces against Russian citizens,

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on June 28, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called on the Russian authorities to investigate the deaths and injuries of Azerbaijanis who were injured on June 27 as a result of a special operation by security forces in Yekaterinburg. Experts in Baku named blunt force trauma as the cause of death of the brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, while the Russian side called the cause of death a heart attack.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has issued a note of protest to the Russian Ambassador to Baku Mikhail Evdokimov, who was summoned to the ministry in connection with the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane near the Aktau airport.

“On July 2, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Azerbaijan Mikhail Evdokimov was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. At the meeting…  the opposite side expressed a protest in connection with the unfriendly actions and steps of the Russian side. "The lack of necessary steps and attempts to distort the real state of affairs, as well as the disinformation campaign against Azerbaijan conducted through Russian officials and the media after the incident with the plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines, are unacceptable," the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement dated July 2.

Relations with Russia can be improved after an investigation into the crash is organized. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov said, Report informs. "Azerbaijan expects Russia to conduct a full and transparent investigation into this disaster, identify and bring those responsible to justice, and pay compensation to the victims. These steps are of great importance for overcoming the negative sentiment in bilateral relations," Trend News Agency quotes the deputy head of the department as saying.

"Protest in connection with the dismantling of Russian-Azerbaijani relations"

The protest note was handed to the Russian ambassador after Moscow proposed that Baku return to the "strategic alliance". "We call on the Azerbaijani side to take measures to return to the level of interstate relations that is formulated in official documents," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing on July 2.

Zakharova added that at a meeting with an Azerbaijani diplomat on July 1, Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Galuzin expressed a strong protest to his interlocutor in connection with the deliberate dismantling of bilateral Russian-Azerbaijani relations and the actions of Azerbaijani security forces against Russian citizens, RBK reports.

Among Baku's unfriendly actions, Zakharova named the cancellation of high-level events within the framework of the interstate dialogue and cultural events with the participation of Russian performers, unacceptable actions against the Russian news agency Sputnik Azerbaijan and its employees.

Local events in Yekaterinburg were used by Baku to express accumulated claims against Moscow, however, the crisis between Russia and Azerbaijan will end with another reconciliation, Russian analysts believe. The collapse of ties between Russia and Azerbaijan threatens Russia's intention to develop the North-South transport corridor and transmit electricity to Iran, experts from Baku believe..

Materials about the deterioration of relations between the two states have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "The collapse of ties between Baku and Moscow".