Moscow Issues Diplomatic Demarche to Azerbaijan: The Reason Revealed

Moscow has issued a diplomatic demarche to Azerbaijan due to statements made by the country’s Foreign Ministry regarding elections in the new regions of Russia. This was announced by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had stated that the recent elections held in internationally recognized territories of Ukraine (in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson) do not meet the required standards and have no legal force.

“This comment has raised a question for me. We cannot accept such assessments. They do not correspond to the allied level of relations between our countries. Therefore, a demarche has been made by the Azerbaijani side through diplomatic channels,” Zakharova said.

She emphasized that Baku should respect issues of Russia's territorial integrity with the same regard as they expect the Russian Federation to respect Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

“I believe our Azerbaijani friends know the history of our territories very well. By the way, they are aware of this not from the media, but through our shared past. They have had the opportunity to view this process in a historical context,” Zakharova noted.

Moscow believes that there should be a corresponding political basis for such comments.

From September 8-10, 2023, voting was held in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions for regional parliament deputies. City deputies and deputies of administrative centers were also elected in the new subjects of the Russian Federation. The four regions participated for the first time in the unified voting day held in Russia.