Russian Embassy in Baku will render the necessary assistance to blogger Alexander Lapshin, a citizen of Russia and Israel, if he requests extradition, RIA Novosti reported quoting embassy's press attaché Denis Apashkin.

“The embassy is in contact with Lapshin’s lawyer and his family. We do not consider ourselves entitled to comment on the decision of the Azerbaijani court. The embassy will further be engaged in protection of Lapshin's rights within its authority,” Apashkin noted.

Commenting on the possible extradition of Lapshin to Russia, he noted that there is an agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan on the transfer of convicts to serve their sentences in the country of their citizenship.

“If Lapshin wants to use the opportunity provided for by this agreement, the embassy will render the necessary assistance,” he stressed.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, blogger and journalist Alexander Lapshin—who is a citizen of Russia, Israel, and several other countries—was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan issued an international search for this famous blogger. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and was later extradited to Baku.