Azerbaijani Ambassador Rahman Mustafayev was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Tuesday, the MFA press service informs.

“During a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin, the ambassador was conveyed a note of protest regarding Baku’s recent unfriendly actions, deliberate steps by the Azerbaijani side to deteriorate bilateral relations [with Russia]. These include the cancellation of high-level events within the framework of the [Russia-Azerbaijan] interstate dialogue, the Russophobic campaign unleashed in the Azerbaijani media at the instigation of the [Azerbaijani] authorities, the provocative, unacceptable actions taken by Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies against the Russian news agency Sputnik Azerbaijan and its employees, the cancellation of all cultural events in the [Azerbaijani] republic, with the participation of performers, including children's creative groups, who arrived from Russia," the Russian MFA statement adds.

And the Azerbaijani ambassador was handed a verbal note demanding the immediate release of Russian journalists Igor Kartavikh and Yevgeny Belousov, who are arrested in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.