Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova cut the journalist of Azerbaijani Trend agency down to size during the press conference on Friday.

During the briefing , an Azerbaijani journalist asked about the holding of the 'Lazarev Club' meetin in Moscow, in which, according to him, the leaders of the "separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" will take part.

The journalist tried to link the forum to the fact that Russia is the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Karabakh settlement, but Maria Zakharova interrupted him.

"Wait. I do not understand why we speak here about the co-presidency of Russia in this forum. How do you link this to facts? Of course, Russia is the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and at the official level it fulfills all its obligations. At the same time hundreds of forums on various topics are being held in Moscow. If you have information that official representatives participate in such events it, please give me the information, I will clarify, ”said Zakharova. 

The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia also added that holding of events by non-governmental organizations and civil society is a right that is enshrined in Russian legislation.