Russia has protested to Azerbaijan over comments it made about weekend regional elections

Russia has delivered a diplomatic demarche to Azerbaijan over statements made by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the elections recently held in Russia’s new regions, given that such statements run counter to the nature of the two countries’ allied relationship, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), which is taking place in Vladivostok on September 10-13.

"We cannot accept such assessments; they are unacceptable assessments, which do not meet the alliance level of relations between our countries. This is why a demarche has been delivered to the Azerbaijani side through proper diplomatic channels. We have stated everything [necessary] on the matter," she said.

"We base our actions on the assumption that Baku should treat issues concerning the territorial integrity of our country with the same respect that our partners expect on our part when the conversation shifts to the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan. I think that our Azerbaijani friends are well aware of the history of [Russia’s] new regions," Zakharova added.

 At the weekend, Azerbaijan released a statement on what it called “sham 'elections” in certain territories of Ukraine - a reference to votes that Russia was holding in four partly occupied regions of Ukraine that it claimed as its own after invading its neighbor last year.

The Azerbaijani statement said the Russian vote was taking place in areas internationally recognized as part of Ukraine and was therefore legally void.