Moscow raises issue of Russian detainees with Baku, but ignores Yekaterinburg brutality

The release of 13 Russian citizens currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan could become an important step toward normalising relations between Moscow and Baku, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

She noted that this issue was discussed in detail on August 22 in Astrakhan during the meetings of the Russian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

As expected, Zakharova made no mention of the Azerbaijani plane shot down by Russian forces — the incident that initially strained relations — nor of the abuses by law enforcement in Yekaterinburg.

During the briefing, Zakharova also commented on the termination of the OSCE Minsk Group’s activities. The Russian side, she stressed, considers the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s decision to dissolve it justified: “We regard this step as well-founded and appropriate given the fundamental changes in the region. The initiative to wind down the Minsk institutions came from Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

By Khagan Isayev