Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry's 'Tough' Response to Russia: Discussion on Putin-Pashinyan Meeting

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has responded to the meeting between President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, which took place on April 1 in Moscow, as well as the subsequent remarks made by Russian officials regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

"During the meeting on April 1 in Moscow between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as well as afterward, Russian officials have touched upon issues that pertain exclusively to Azerbaijan's internal affairs. In this regard, Azerbaijan's position on the inadmissibility of using the Nagorno-Karabakh region in political speculations has been conveyed through diplomatic channels to the Presidential Administration of Russia, the Russian government, and the Russian Foreign Ministry, along with our expectations for the cessation of such actions.

The notion that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan is based not on any state's decision, but on history, international law, and justice. Despite this, this topic continues to resonate in the official political discourse of the Russian side. Today, for example, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, reiterated in an interview with the 'Vesti' television channel the question of which party, Russia or Armenia, was the first to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan.

We would like to remind the Russian side once again that no country, including the Russian Federation, has ever questioned Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region. We again inform the Russian side of our expectations that issues related to Azerbaijan's sovereignty will not become subjects of public discussion in this period when Russian-Armenian relations are complex," the statement reads.