The recent meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin in Dushanbe appears to be followed by early signs of de-escalation in bilateral tensions.
Russian media report that former director of the Moscow Academic Satire Theater Mamadali Agayev, an Azerbaijani citizen, has been released from custody in Russia. The news coincides with the transfer of Sputnik Azerbaijan’s executive director Igor Kartavykh to house arrest in Baku – another gesture seen by observers as part of a mutual softening in the climate between Moscow and Baku.
Analysts note that the timing of these developments – coming just days after Aliyev and Putin’s first full-scale talks in nearly a year – reinforces expectations that both sides are seeking to stabilize relations after months of strain over the AZAL plane tragedy and a series of legal disputes involving Russian and Azerbaijani nationals.
While neither government has publicly linked these judicial moves to the high-level talks, experts describe them as “confidence-building signals” following the Dushanbe meeting, which both leaders characterized as constructive and aimed at restoring the “spirit of allied cooperation.”
