Moscow, Baku in constant contact on issues deemed "problematic", says Putin's press chief

Chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, keeps regular contact with Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General, Kamran Aliyev, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov during a briefing, pushing back a journalist's suggestions of a diplomatic crisis.

"[Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander] Bastrykin is in regular contact with Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General. They are dealing with issues that are considered problematic," Peskov said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

The Kremlin official also warned of outside interference, stating that Ukraine “will continue to add fuel to the fire in the situation between Russia and Azerbaijan.”

The journalist's question is highly likely to hint at the recent brutal killings and arrests of Russian citizens of an Azerbaijani origin in Yekaterinburg. 

Recall that on June 27, the officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) conducted raids on over ten residences of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, targeting an alleged ethnic Azerbaijani criminal group linked to murders and attempted murders between 2001 and 2011, including the 2001 killing of businessman Yunis Pashayev.

During the operation, Ziyaddin Safarov (a Russian citizen) and Huseyn Safarov (an Azerbaijani citizen) were killed, with Russian authorities claiming they died from heart failure, while the other remains under investigation. Nine others, including Bakir, Akif, Ayaz, and Mazahir Safarov, Ahliman Ganjiyev, and Shahin Lalayev, were detained, with court hearings in Yekaterinburg’s Lenin District Court extending their pretrial detention till July 19.

By Khagan Isayev