Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed hope that the disagreements between Moscow and Baku over the conflict in Ukraine will not cause lasting damage to the long-term mutually beneficial relations between the two countries. He stated this during a regular briefing, quoted by TASS, BTA reports.
„We are aware of the position of the Azerbaijani leadership on the Ukrainian issue. We have differences on this issue, President Aliyev from the very beginning took a certain position with which we do not agree“, Peskov said.
However, the Kremlin hopes that these differences will not become a serious obstacle to bilateral cooperation. „We expect a short period of "a cooling that will not have a lasting impact on our relations. We do not intend to sacrifice our common interests for the sake of the current situation," added Vladimir Putin's press secretary.
Tensions between the two countries have increased after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made harsh statements against Russia, including in interviews with Ukrainian media. Additional tension was also caused by Baku's reaction to actions by Russian law enforcement agencies against criminal structures with ethnic Azerbaijani members in the Urals region.
The crisis in relations also deepened after the tragic incident in December last year, when a Russian anti-aircraft missile mistakenly hit an Azerbaijani passenger plane, killing 38 people. On Saturday, President Aliyev demanded that Moscow publicly take responsibility and punish those responsible for the incident.