Russian foreign ministry: time to activate sagging cultural ties with Azerbaijan

Cultural and humanitarian ties between Russia and Azerbaijan that have sagged in recent times need to be activated.

This was stated in an interview with TASS by Mikhail Kalugin, director of the Fourth Department of CIS Countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The diplomat emphasized that full-fledged bilateral cooperation is unthinkable without close cultural and humanitarian ties. "Recently, unfortunately, these have 'sagged' for us, and now is the time to activate them," he noted.

"We have promising projects, such as the creation of a joint university in Azerbaijan based on St. Petersburg State University, the establishment of schools at the embassies of the two countries in Moscow and Baku. We hope in the near future to restore the activities of the Russian Information and Cultural Center in the republic. There are ideas regarding the cross-installation of monuments to outstanding figures of our states in Russia and Azerbaijan," the department director said.

According to him, there is a request from the public to resume tours of creative groups and to regularly hold youth and interregional forums. "In a word, there is a lot of work. It is important that both sides understand the need to increase efforts in this direction and make up for lost time," the diplomat emphasized.