MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Russia is calling on Azerbaijan to take action to bring bilateral relations back to the level of strategic alliance, as is enshrined in their treaties, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We urge the Azerbaijani side to take measures for interstate relations to return to the level that is enshrined in official documents," she told reporters. "Let me remind you that it is the level of strategic alliance."

According to Zakharova, those who wish to harm bilateral relations "have already taken a considerable number of provocative steps."

"It should be noted that these steps are causing significant damage to interstate relations," she said.

"We are convinced that all arising issues should be resolved in collaboration, engaging available political and diplomatic channels. It is this approach, rather than contrived escalation of confrontation, that would really serve the interests of people in the two countries."

On June 30, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry announced that law enforcement staff conducted an operation in the office of Russia’s Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency. The ministry later said several people were detained in the raid, including the agency’s chief, Igor Kartavykh, and editor-in-chief, Yevgeny Belousov.

Sputnik said they had not received any formal ban preventing them from working in Azerbaijan. A dialogue was underway between working groups to settle possible disagreements, it said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier said Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Rahman Mustafayev had been given a note verbale demanding the immediate release of Russian journalists detained in Baku. The ministry also issued a protest to the diplomat over Baku’s unfriendly actions aimed at undermining relations with Russia.

It told the ambassador that the recent detention in Yekaterinburg of Azerbaijani-born Russian citizens was in full compliance with the Russian laws that regulate criminal investigations.