YEREVAN. – Israel was not exerting pressure on Azerbaijan to release blogger Alexander Lapshin, Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker Tali Ploskov told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

However, deputy speaker added that if an Israeli citizen is in some kind of trouble, in any case, the state is trying to get him out of this trouble.

“Of course, I know exactly what influenced the decision of the Azerbaijani president, but it is clear that we will always protect our citizen, regardless of where he is. Without telling specific names, I’m very happy that the Azerbaijani side made such a decision,” Tali Ploskov noted.

Asked about the possibility of Israel’s review of its position on weapon supplies to Azerbaijan, especially after the April events and taking into account the increasing militant rhetoric of Ilham Aliyev, Tali Ploskov said she is representing Israel as a parliamentarian, not a government official, and she has no authority to answer these kind of questions.

Israeli lawmaker added that her country seeks to do everything to see peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Alexander Lapshin—who is a citizen of Russia, Israel, and several other countries—was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan for visiting Karabakh. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and was later extradited to Baku.

On July 20, the Baku court sentenced blogger Alexander Lapshin to three years in jail, but he was pardoned on September 11. Lapshin was forced to commit suicide in jail.