Baku: "Nagorno-Karabakh" administrative and territorial unit doesn't exist in Azerbaijan

Baku has described as unacceptable the use of the term "Nagorno-Karabakh" in the Russian Defence Ministry statement in the context of humanitarian aid sent to Ukraine.

"There is no administrative and territorial unit called 'Nagorno-Karabakh' in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Russian Federation has repeatedly declared its support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan in high-level statements. Moreover, this position was confirmed in the relevant documents signed between the two countries," the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said.

The statement stressed that contrary to Russia's official position, "there were cases of appeals to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan with this name" in the Russian Defence Ministry's official statements.

"Such statements may damage Azerbaijani-Russian relations and lead to an aggravation of the situation along the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily stationed," the ministry said.

It urged the Russian Defence Ministry "to stop the practice of referring to the sovereign territories of our country under the name of administrative and territorial units that do not exist in the Republic of Azerbaijan".