Mikhail Galuzin and Rahman Mustafayev confirm Moscow-Baku commitment to advancing ties

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and Azerbaijani Ambassador to Moscow Rahman Mustafayev held a meeting in Moscow, during which the sides confirmed their commitment to developing cooperation.

The diplomats summed up the results of bilateral cooperation in the past year, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"They reaffirmed their mutual commitment to further developing bilateral ties in accordance with the Declaration on Allied Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan, signed in Moscow on February 22, 2022, and the agreements reached at the meeting of the two leaders in Dushanbe on October 9," the statement reads.

In this context, they expressed a shared intention to expand contacts across the entire Russian-Azerbaijani agenda in 2026," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry added that Galuzin and Mustafayev also discussed some aspects of settling the consequences of the AZAL plane crash near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan a year ago.

"The Russian side has once again raised the issue of the speedy release of the 11 Russian citizens detained in Baku from June 30 to July 1," the ministry said.