Moscow and Baku each released one detainee after the presidential meeting

Sputnik Azerbaijan executive director Igor Kartavykh and one of the Azerbaijanis arrested in Russia have been released. The decision was agreed upon before the meeting between Putin and Aliyev in Dushanbe.

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," the first meeting in a long time between Russian and Azerbaijani leaders Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev took place on October 9 in Dushanbe. Two missiles fired by Russia's air defense system did not directly hit the AZAL plane, but exploded several meters away,  Putin stated  during the meeting. The preconditions for resolving the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Azerbaijan were Moscow's recognition of responsibility for the downing of the AZAL plane and the payment of compensation. Putin's statement in Dushanbe on this issue paved the way for a normalization of relations in the interests of both sides, analysts noted.

Igor Kartavykh, executive director of Sputnik Azerbaijan, was released from custody in Baku, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. Russia, in turn, released one of the detained Azerbaijani citizens, Kommersant reports.

Negotiations for the journalist's release took place at the presidential aide level—he worked directly with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Hikmet Hajiyev. The decision was made on the eve of the meeting between Russian and Azerbaijani presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan.

According to Ushakov, the Kartavykh family's release was made possible by the presidential aides' ability to coordinate their actions with the heads of state.

As a reminder, amid the diplomatic crisis between Moscow and Baku, security forces in various Russian regions have raised concerns about ethnic Azerbaijanis, including those holding Russian citizenship. At the same time, Russian citizens and tourists residing in Azerbaijan  have complained  about security forces' visits and demands to report to migration services. On July 4, it was reported that Russian authorities  had stripped  Elshan Ibragimov, head of the regional national and cultural autonomy of Azerbaijanis in the Moscow region, of his Russian citizenship, but his lawyer ruled out any connection between this event and the crisis between the two countries.

Relations between Moscow and Baku significantly deteriorated after the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board en route from Baku to Grozny in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024. More details can be found in the Caucasian Knot report " Baku-Grozny Plane Crash " and in the article " Geopolitical Confrontation: What Led to the AZAL Plane Crash ."

On December 28, 2024, Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and apologized "for the tragic incident" involving the AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane "occurring in Russian airspace." On December 29, Aliyev publicly demanded that Russia admit responsibility for the plane crash, and on January 6, he  criticized the Russian authorities  for refusing to admit guilt and demanded that those responsible for the crash be punished. Ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan marked a new stage in the deterioration of relations between the two countries. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial killings of Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report " Crisis in Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia ."

Materials on the deterioration of relations between the two countries have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page " The Collapse of Ties between Baku and Moscow ."

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416192