Overview

• Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office says its findings on the December 25 crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines jet will be released in the coming days
• Baku continues to hold Russian state journalists and has arrested other Russians on charges ranging from fraud to cybercrime and drug trafficking
• Cultural and official exchanges remain suspended after Azerbaijan cancelled planned visits and events in response to June police raids in Yekaterinburg that killed two ethnic Azerbaijanis
• The Russian Foreign Ministry has demanded consular access to its detained citizens and called on Azerbaijan to restore ties to a level of strategic cooperation
• Analysts say Baku’s deepening partnerships with Turkey, Israel, Pakistan and China have reduced its reliance on Moscow and emboldened its foreign policy stance