AZE.US
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Russia had again raised issues tied to Azerbaijan’s internal affairs after talks in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on April 1.
According to the ministry, Russian officials referred publicly to matters related to the Karabakh region both during and after the Putin-Pashinyan meeting, prompting a response from Baku.
In a statement cited by Vesti Baku, the ministry said Azerbaijan had already conveyed through diplomatic channels that any political speculation involving its Karabakh region was unacceptable. It said that position, along with Baku’s expectation that such rhetoric stop, had been communicated to the Russian presidential administration, the government, and the Foreign Ministry.
The ministry said the issue nevertheless remains part of Russia’s official political discourse. As an example, it pointed to remarks made on April 5 by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview with Russia’s Vesti channel, where he again commented on whether Russia or Armenia had been the first to recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Karabakh’s status as an inseparable part of Azerbaijan does not depend on the decision of any foreign state. It said that reality rests on history, international law, and justice, and was reaffirmed by the outcome of the 2020 Second Karabakh War and Azerbaijan’s September 2023 anti-terror measures.
The statement also said no country, including Russia, had at any point questioned Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, including over Karabakh.
Baku added that it expects issues related to Azerbaijan’s sovereignty not to be turned into a subject of public argument at a time when relations between Russia and Armenia remain complicated.