The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry criticized Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky for comparing the Russian-Ukrainian war with the Karabakh conflict. Earlier, he said that "there was such a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan - Karabakh."

"Surprisingly, Medinsky does not know that Karabakh has never been a disputed territory. We would like to remind you that this is the original land of Azerbaijan. Russia itself recognized and recognizes Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the Russian presidential aide compares the Russian-Ukrainian war with the situation in Karabakh. Such a comparison is inappropriate, since Azerbaijan has never violated the territorial integrity of any country and has not waged an aggressive war against any country. Our advice to Medinsky is not to harm interstate relations by making false statements on issues that are outside his jurisdiction," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded to criticism from Baku. She called for not taking Medinsky's words about Karabakh out of context and not giving them "an entirely different meaning," TASS reports. According to Zakharova, the discussion was about the historical aspect of the situation and socio-cultural features.

"There is no need to take non-existent theses out of context and change words around, giving them an entirely different meaning," the Russian diplomat said.

Earlier, Medinsky said in an interview with Russia Today that a ceasefire in Ukraine could turn the region into a "huge Karabakh."

"If we stop the conflict along the front line, conclude some kind of ceasefire, then this region will turn into a huge Karabakh. We do not want to have a pretext - a gigantic Karabakh, unrecognized by anyone, because of which a nuclear war could break out," Putin's aide said.