For 30 years, while Azerbaijani territories were under occupation, fruitless negotiations were repeatedly held, and France, Russia, and the United States, as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and with a mandate to achieve peace and liberate our territories from occupation, were unable to force Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijani territory, stated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking at the opening of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Baku.
Moscow regarded Armenia's ban on entry to Russian citizens as an unfriendly move. The corresponding statement was made by the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. This was a reaction to the fact that Yerevan recently did not allow in former State Duma deputy, propagandist Franz Klintsevich.
"Such actions contradict the allied nature of bilateral relations. The Russian Federation has repeatedly called on its Armenian partners to stop this vicious practice," Zakharova said.
She emphasized that the Russian Foreign Ministry is waiting for Yerevan's reaction.
Earlier, Armenia also banned entry to propagandist Margarita Simonyan, political scientist Andranik Migranyan, and State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin.
In her statement, Zakharova also commented on information that had spread on the Internet about arms supplies between Azerbaijan and Ukraine (Ukrspetsexport).
"Moscow raises this issue in any case, especially when it comes to potential arms deliveries from countries with which the Russian Federation has a trusting dialogue and allied relations. Russia conveys its concerns to them, receiving an explanation or a refutation, or working together to minimize the damage caused," the official said evasively.