Baku, June 24, AZERTAC

Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov have held a joint press conference following their meeting.

Speaking at the press conference, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov noted that the relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have traditions of good neighborhood and strong friendship. Stressing that there is positive dynamics in all the directions between the two countries, the Azerbaijani foreign minister said that both countries have strong relations of strategic cooperation. Many agreements, treaties and other documents have been signed between Azerbaijan and Russia so far. The Declaration on Allied Interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation is one of the important documents, he said.

Stressing that cooperation in different areas is successfully continuing, the Azerbaijani foreign minister noted that the expansion of economic ties following the pandemic has caused the trade turnover to rise.

Praising the work of the intergovernmental commission, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister emphasized that the projects in the transport, communication and other areas are successfully underway. Noting that the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has already been resolved, the minister said: “Azerbaijan supports peace and security in the region. We highly appreciate Russia’s support in this issue. The Trilateral Declaration ensures security. There are positive points in certain issues as compared to the situation before. Although decisions are made with difficulty, they must be consecutive and durable from positive viewpoint. Azerbaijan took another step in February 2022 and presented 5 key principles on the restoration of bilateral relations to Armenia. Today, during the discussions, we managed to make progress in the direction of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, mostly in the issue of opening of communications”.

Noting that the restoration and construction work in the Azerbaijani territories liberated from occupation is being conducted fast, Jeyhun Bayramov said that Azerbaijan is interested in the participation of Russian companies in this work. Rails are brought from Russia and we believe that our cooperation will continue in this area, he said. According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, the Caspian Sea acts an important element in the relations. Russia and Azerbaijan have already left behind the issue of ratification and regulatory acts have already been drafted in this area. The ratification of the status of the Caspian Sea will be approved in the summit in Turkmenistan shortly, he said.

“Azerbaijan is always ready to cooperate with neighboring countries in the field of international security”, the Azerbaijani minister added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Azerbaijan are united by multi-century ties. The visit by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Russia in February this year opened a new page in the relations between the two countries. The Declaration on Allied Interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation envisages coordination of foreign policy and intensification of military-political cooperation, he said.

Speaking about the activities of the intergovernmental commission, the Russian minister said that work is underway for the delimitation of the borders after the war. The Armenian side has expressed its readiness for participation in the second meeting of the commission on the delimitation of the borders. “Our regular contacts are going on. We will meet again in St. Petersburg in two weeks to hold discussions on these issues”, Sergey Lavrov emphasized.

The Russian Foreign Minister expressed his satisfaction with the way of development of Russia’s diplomatic dialogue with Azerbaijan. “In all, we have dialogue with Azerbaijan over the issues on the regional and international agenda. Our friendship is an example. It includes our cooperation within the UN and the OSCE. We are satisfied with the way of development of dialogue with Azerbaijan, which helps complement bilateral economic, humanitarian and other issues and cooperation in the field of foreign policy. The topic of our discussions today was related to international information security and we signed a document on this”, he said.

Stressing that cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan is expanding as time goes on, Sergey Lavrov said that the relations have developed in all areas. Speaking about the status of the Caspian, the Russian minister said that this issue will be resolved soon in Ashgabat.

Sergey Lavrov also said that Russia is ready to participate in the restoration of the territories liberated from occupation.

Noting that discussions were held concerning the UN and the OSCE during the meeting, the Russian foreign minister stressed that the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group had already been lost. The minister added that cooperation is also expanding in the humanitarian area and new projects are being implemented.

Then, the ministers responded to questions from journalists.