The statements of the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Russian Embassy in our country dated July 2, alleging that law enforcement agencies allegedly used physical force against Russian citizens and their family members visiting Azerbaijan, as well as that Azerbaijan did not respond to Russia's official appeals for consular support to arrested Russian citizens, are unfounded.

Axar.az reports that this was stated in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

It was noted that the official position of the Azerbaijani side regarding the groups detained and arrested by Azerbaijan, as well as Russian citizens working in the "Sputnik-Azerbaijan" branch operating illegally in our country, has been made public.

"Regarding the issue of consular support, the appeals received by the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 30 and July 1 were immediately addressed to the relevant state body, and the relevant information on the identity of the arrested persons and the competent body conducting the investigation was submitted to the Russian side by paragraph 1 of Article 39 of the Consular Convention between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. In general, the Russian side is aware of the period for considering the appeals under the convention.

It should be noted that the Azerbaijani side has never politicized by publicizing the weeks-long delay in Russia's responses to our repeated appeals for organizing consular meetings with Azerbaijani citizens detained and held in prisons in various cities of Russia.

Considering the above, we call on the Russian side to refrain from steps and statements that artificially aggravate the situation," the statement released by the Foreign Ministry said.