«If we are talking about any kind of technological leadership – and we should be talking about precisely that – then we must talk about technological independence. If we buy everything with oil and gas revenues – and now we are in a situation where they are trying to cut off even that – then Russia will simply lose its competitiveness, and subsequently its sovereignty. That is why I ultimately disagreed with those who proposed purchasing everything abroad, and we began developing our own automotive industry. We started doing it step by step,» Putin said.

Ryabkov noted: "A necessary option for us is to seek alternatives in the form of mutual settlement mechanisms that are sufficiently resilient to external negative influences and possess immunity to such external actions."

"You know that investigative actions are underway, an investigation is ongoing," the Kremlin spokesman reminded. "If Azerbaijan makes such a decision (to go to court), in this case, it is Azerbaijan's right. We will await the official findings of all inquiries and the investigation."

"But it sometimes happens that difficult periods occur in relations. Now is one such period, we hope that this period will pass."