Minsk, November 19, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko have held a one-on-one meeting.

The heads of state made speeches at the event.

Welcoming President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said:

- Dear Ilham Heydarovich, Belarus looked forward to welcoming you. There was a lot of information about the official visit. In fact, as you know, there were different reasons for that – sometimes fake ones. But this is also a result. Even negative information which is not true can sometimes be positive. Therefore, there was a genuine interest in your visit. We have been waiting for it for a long time. We have talked a lot about Azerbaijan. There were many reasons, as I said. These are mostly good reasons. The people of Belarus perceive Azerbaijan as a very friendly and fraternal republic with which we have established good relations at the level of Presidents, the intergovernmental commission and in trade and economic relations. Suffice it to mention that the trade of Azerbaijan with Belarus has increased 3.5 times in the last year alone. Moreover, I want to once again confirm and assure you that there will never be any closed topics in our relations. We used to live within one state. We are very close to each other. Whether someone wants to acknowledge this or not, our roots go back to that Soviet period, far away perhaps. Ten to 15 generations ago, our compatriots had good relations with yours. As a historian, you understand this perfectly well. So we are glad to welcome you to Belarus. Do visit us more often when the weather is not the same as today – although there is some beauty in this too, especially after the dry Baku wind. I think it would be useful for you to visit this pre-winter Minsk and see. It has its own beauty. So you should see it at least. So I am glad that you are visiting us. There is something to talk about. We have good relations in all spheres – trade and economic, diplomatic and political. Our relations in the military sphere are also good. But there is more to strive for and there is something we can still add to the relations we already have. Therefore, I am sure that your visit to Belarus today will be a new step towards building our relations for the future.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Thank you, dear Alexander Grigoryevich. First of all, thank you for the invitation. I am very glad to visit brotherly Belarusian land again. As you know, this is not my first visit to your country. I often come to Belarus and you often make official visits to Azerbaijan. This is an indicator of our relations, exactly as you have said – very close and friendly relations between our countries, which also have a very important historical aspect. Our peoples have actively communicated with each other and cooperated for decades, and this cooperation, of course, reached a completely new level in the years of independence.

And when people talk about Belarus in Azerbaijan today and recall the events related to our bilateral relations, there are always very positive feelings in our society. It is very important that our friendly relations are also very positively perceived by the societies of our countries. I know that there is a very good attitude towards Azerbaijan in Belarus and the people of Azerbaijan consider Belarus to be a truly brotherly country and one of the closest partners of Azerbaijan not only in the former Soviet Union but also in the world. And there are many reasons for that, including our personal relationship with you. People see all this, appreciate all this, the way we solve problems and move towards our goals. The time of our active relations in recent years is a time when the issues we agree on are being resolved. Our relationship stands out for the fact that whatever we agree on is being implemented. We support each other in all international organizations. We cooperate, as you have noted. Trade and economic ties are growing. Industrial cooperation is developing very fast. Cooperation in the military-technical, cultural and educational spheres also has a good history. In other words, we see a positive momentum, good attitude and specific results in all directions. Of course, I am sure that my current visit is not only an opportunity to discuss what has been done, analyze and sum up some of the results, but also to outline ways of further cooperation and convergence. I am sure that we will make important decisions in this direction today.

Taking this opportunity, I would also like to invite you to pay another official visit to Azerbaijan at a time convenient for you. Thank you again for the hospitality and the invitation.