Baku agreed to allow diplomats to visit detained Russian citizens.

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Azerbaijan has agreed to the repeated consular access of Russian diplomats to Russian citizens detained this summer.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, on July 1, a Baku court arrested eight Russian citizens accused of drug trafficking and cybercrime. Moscow is counting on Baku to abandon its excessive and unfair harshness toward the detained Russians, stated Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova. On July 16, it became known that relatives of some of the Russians arrested in Baku were able to see them, and the Russian consul called their conditions of detention good. On October 28, a Baku court extended their detention by three months.

Azerbaijan has agreed to readmit Russian diplomats to Russian citizens detained in the summer, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Izvestia on December 20.

According to him, the diplomats are seeking "the speedy release of detained Russian citizens" and "the respect of their legal rights." "Recently, Azerbaijani consent was received for our diplomats to readmit consular access to these citizens," Galuzin added.

He also responded to a question about the "state of political dialogue between Russia and Azerbaijan." Galuzin described the past year as quite challenging for relations between the two countries, but added that the two sides "managed to make progress on the economic front." In particular, trade volume has increased. While last year it was approximately $4.5 billion, this year it is expected to exceed $5 billion.

Galuzin also stated that in the second half of the year, a "high pace of interstate dialogue between Russia and Azerbaijan" was restored, primarily through the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on October 9 in Dushanbe, as well as contacts at the Foreign Ministry level. Regarding the closure of the Russian House in Baku, Galuzin noted that the Russian side supports the restoration of the cultural and humanitarian component of bilateral relations, including "Russia's presence in Azerbaijan's cultural and humanitarian space." And the issue of the Russian House is on the diplomats' agenda.