MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Russia and Azerbaijan attach special importance to countering attempts by Western intelligence agencies to undermine the internal situation in both countries, the press service of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement following the official visit of the agency's head Sergey Naryshkin to Baku on October 2-3.

"Russia's SVR, along with Azerbaijan's SVR and State Security Service, emphasized the importance of efforts to identify hostile aspirations of Western intelligence services aimed at undermining internal political stability in both countries. During a meeting between Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian SVR, and Colonel-General Orkhan Sultanov, the head of the Azerbaijani SVR, as well as Colonel-General Ali Nagiyev, the head of the Azerbaijani Security Service, both sides highlighted that under current conditions, the timely detection and suppression of subversive anti-Russian and anti-Azerbaijani actions orchestrated abroad is one of the key tasks of the intelligence and counterintelligence services," the SVR stated.

The parties also emphasized the need to intensify joint efforts to counter "the use of non-systemic opposition and international terrorist organizations by foreign intelligence services to destabilize the socio-political situation in Russia and Azerbaijan."