Baku, May 18, AZERTAC

On the initiative of the Moldovan side, a meeting has been held between President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon in the format of a video conference.

Greeting President Ilham Aliyev, President of Moldova Igor Dodon said:

- Good morning.

President Ilham Aliyev: Good morning.

President Igor Dodon: Dear Mr. President, our esteemed friend. I am very glad to be able to communicate with you at least in this format. To begin with, I want to congratulate you on the past great holiday – Victory Day. I also want to thank you very much for the help you decided to provide us in the fight against the pandemic. Just a few days ago, last week, we accepted the help you sent with a special plane. I want to say thank you very much on behalf of all our people for the fact that our friends, our brothers from Baku decided to help us in this difficult situation. I know that you are also fighting the pandemic. We know that you are successfully dealing with this. I hope that today we will be able to talk about this and other aspects of our cooperation in the format of a teleconference.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yes. I am very glad to see you, dear Mr. President. I would also like to congratulate you and through you all the people of Moldova on the past Victory Day. This holiday has always been very dear to our countries. It is gratifying that we retain the memory of those who laid their heads for our Victory. Those who are still with us today, although there are fewer and fewer of them, enjoy great respect in our countries. Of course, we always bilaterally focused on active interaction. I recall our meetings both in Baku and at international venues. Therefore, it is only natural that Azerbaijan showed solidarity with Moldova at this difficult time. Because it is in difficult times that we need to support each other. When all is well, everyone congratulates each other and rejoice in each other’s success. But, of course, we must also support each other in difficult times as much as we can. I am grateful to you for your letter in this regard and also for the fact that you mentioned it today. Of course, the pandemic has affected the course of events in all countries, including international politics. But modern technology allow us the opportunity to work and communicate actively even in this format. So I am sure that today's discussion will also be very useful and result-oriented.

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During the conversation, the heads of state exchanged views on measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic and talked about upcoming work in the field of eliminating its socioeconomic consequences.

Hailing the development of bilateral relations, President Ilham Aliyev and President Igor Dodon noted the high level of political ties.

Touching upon the development of cooperation between the two countries in various fields after the pandemic, the heads of state emphasized that there were favorable opportunities for expanding ties in the fields of trade, economy, transport, energy and other areas, as well as implementing investment projects. In this regard, the presidents noted that holding a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in the post-pandemic period would contribute to strengthening economic cooperation.

The heads of state also discussed prospects for the expansion of ties between business circles of the two countries and holding a business forum in the future. The President of Moldova once again brought to the attention the invitation of the Azerbaijani President to pay an official visit to his country. President Ilham Aliyev, in turn, invited President of Moldova Igor Dodon to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan at his convenience.