Azerbaijan will not participate in the 106th meeting of the CIS Economic Council, which is taking place today in Moscow. First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov, who usually represents the country at such events, did not come to the capital.

Relations between Moscow and Baku have seriously deteriorated after the downing of an Azerbaijani airline AZAL passenger plane in Russian skies and a raid by security forces in Yekaterinburg, which resulted in the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern over the increasing incidence of violence against Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg. In particular, deliberate killings and lynchings committed by Russian law enforcement agencies on the basis of ethnicity were noted, which caused indignation and condemnation in Azerbaijani society. In addition, Azerbaijan insists that Russia conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the tragedy involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane shot down in Russian airspace at the end of last year, bring those responsible to justice and pay appropriate compensation to the victims.