Moscow Seeks to Heal Rift With Azerbaijan Amid Worsening Diplomatic Row

Russia’s relations with Azerbaijan remain strained, Moscow confirmed this week, voicing hope that the two nominal allies might soon resolve their differences.

“The [two] countries share common interests, and mutually beneficial cooperation based on mutual respect is in place,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 21, according to Russian news agency TASS.

“But sometimes the countries’ relations face tough moments. Now is one of them.

“We hope that this period will end.”

He said that cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan was “of mutual benefit.”

Relations nosedived in early July, when authorities in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, arrested several Russian nationals, including two journalists from Russian state news agency Sputnik.

All those arrested are still in detention on charges that remain unclear.

The arrests were widely perceived as retaliation for the arrest days earlier of several ethnic Azerbaijani men in Russia’s south-central city of Yekaterinburg.

The men, all Russian citizens, were arrested by Russian police on June 27 for suspected involvement in organized crime activities, including murder.

Two of the suspects died in police custody, drawing protests from Azerbaijan, which blamed the Russian authorities for the deaths.

Speaking on July 21, Peskov acknowledged that a “very large Azerbaijani diaspora resides in Russia, and virtually all of them are law-abiding citizens who are given due respect,” TASS reported.

Peskov added, however, that those engaging in illegal activities would be “prosecuted in accordance with the law.”

In reference to the Russians arrested in Baku, Peskov stressed Moscow’s insistence that its nationals living and working in Azerbaijan be “respected.”

Baku has taken other retaliatory steps against Moscow, including the cancellation of all scheduled Russian cultural events in the country.

When asked at the time about the retaliatory moves, Peskov said the arrests in Yekaterinburg pertained to the “work of law enforcement agencies” and “should not be a reason for such a reaction.”

Diplomatic Crisis

In recent years, Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic in the South Caucasus region, has maintained relatively friendly relations with Russia.

Moscow has often played the role of mediator in the decades-long territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Like Armenia, Azerbaijan is a longstanding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a Moscow-led regional bloc comprising nine former Soviet republics.

In a sign of continued bilateral friction, Baku declined to send its representative to a meeting of the CIS Economic Council, which was held in Moscow on July 18.

The next day, Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, reiterated demands that Russia acknowledge its alleged role in the accidental shooting down of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 late last year.

“We know exactly what happened—and we can prove it,” Aliyev told reporters. “Moreover, we are confident that Russian officials also know what happened.”

The passenger jet crashed in December 2024 while en route from Baku to Russia’s southeastern city of Grozny.

Azerbaijan insists that the aircraft was struck—albeit accidentally—by Russian anti-aircraft fire, causing it to crash in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people on board.

Russian President Vladimir Putin later apologized for the “tragic incident,” but stopped short of acknowledging Russia’s responsibility.

Speaking on July 19, Alyiv demanded that Russia accept blame for the crash, punish those responsible, pay compensation to victims’ families, and reimburse the cost of the ill-fated aircraft.

“These are standard expectations within the framework of international law and good-neighborly relations,” he said.

According to recent reports in the Azerbaijani media, Aliyev has also stated that Baku intends to file a lawsuit with international judicial bodies—against Russia—in connection with the incident.

When asked about the reports, Peskov said such a decision was “Azerbaijan’s right.”

“We will wait for official rulings,” he said, according to TASS.

Reuters contributed to this report.