“There have been no and there are no substantive complaints regarding the journalistic work of Sputnik Azerbaijan. We had agreed to resolve formalities during the visit to Moscow on April 8, when the Azerbaijani president's special representative for special assignments, Khalaf Khalafov, came to discuss signing an intergovernmental agreement. I personally participated in those negotiations at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. At that time, we also agreed to continue the work of Sputnik Azerbaijan under a temporary legal scheme proposed by Baku,” said Dmitry Kiselev, general director of the Sputnik News Agency's parent organization Rossiya Segodnya.
“However, no temporary scheme was proposed. We are working while waiting for it, hoping that the agreements will be fulfilled. Suddenly, Azerbaijani security forces entered the editorial office and took the leadership of our department, treating them like 'FSB officers,' with hands twisted behind their backs and heads bowed, as if they were terrorists. Everything looks like a deliberate move to worsen interstate relations. We hope this is one of those cases, as Putin once put it, where 'the middle level is acting on its own.' The relationship between the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan does not suggest anything like this," Kiselev emphasized.
