Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry told local media that seven people linked to a Kremlin-funded media outlet in Baku have been detained after a Monday raid on its office.

The rift, provoked by the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian custody, was the latest in a series of spats that revealed a deeper diplomatic rift between the former allies.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged Azerbaijan to restore its ties with Moscow to a level befitting "strategic cooperation" after saying that certain forces were trying to wreck the two countries' relationship.