Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Russian Foreign Ministry: "Azerbaijan - our important strategic partner in the South Caucasus and the Caspian region"

17 May 2013 22:18 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow. Farid Akbarov - APA. "Azerbaijan is our important strategic partner in the South Caucasus and the Caspian region," said Deputy Director of the Information Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia Maria Zakharova in an interview, APA’s Moscow bureau reports. According to her, the bilateral relations develop on the basis of equality and respect for each other's interests and good neighborliness, "We aim at deepening the multifaceted cooperation with Azerbaijan in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres.

A key element of Russian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership is the political dialogue between the presidents of our countries. Established trust in the relations between Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin allow rapidly resolve any issue.

Alongside the highest level dialogue, relations between our governments, key ministries and departments are actively developing. In recent years, the importance of the parliamentary vector in bilateral relations increased significantly. In 2012, chairmen of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergey Naryshkin and Valentina Matviyenko paid visits to Baku. Bilateral legal framework is developing.

An important element of bilateral cooperation is the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation. There is Russian-Azerbaijani Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation, which held its 6th meeting in Moscow on August 8, 2012. On November 2, 2012, Baku hosted the 10th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Commission of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic ".

Responding to a question regarding the upcoming official visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov to Russia, M.Zakharova noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart will discuss a wide range of issues on bilateral relations, international and regional issues." During the visit, consultation plan will be signed between Azerbaijani and Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 2013-2014.

The agenda will include talks and the problem of Nagorno Karabakh conflict in which Russia - both in bilateral relations with Baku and multisided format as co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group - one of the leading international mediators, helps the parties find mutually acceptable solutions. We intend to continue working on this track.

It is also expected to address coordination issues in foreign policy. We note with satisfaction that our countries' positions on many international and regional issues are similar and coincide. "

M.Zaharova also said that the Russian-Azerbaijani economic and trade relations are developing rapidly: "Russia continues to be a leader among the countries exporting to Azerbaijan and at the same time one of the four major importers of Azerbaijani goods. The volume of trade in 2012 reached a new record of 3.4 billion U.S. dollars.

However, we believe that we have the necessary prerequisites for the expansion of cooperation in this area. We believe that the forthcoming meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation should give a new impetus to the area of bilateral work. We also rely on the implementation of other important joint projects, including in the energy sector. Preparations are underway for the signing of the intergovernmental agreement on ensuring parallel operation of the Unified Energy System of Russia and Azerbaijan's power grid.

Inter-regional cooperation is one of the key elements of our bilateral relations. There was significant work experience in recent years, there is a mutual interest in further development of cooperation, especially when the matter is the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District.

For now, the inter-regional cooperation with Azerbaijan have been included 70 subjects of the Russian Federation. There are about 40 regional agreements on trade, economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation. Perspective format of cooperation in this area is organized annually by the Russian-Azerbaijani inter-regional forum. We are preparing for the Fourth Forum, which will take place in early June of this year in Volgograd.

Russian-Azerbaijani humanitarian ties are on the rise. This area of cooperation is of particular importance to the strengthening of friendly and good-neighbor relations, mutual trust and understanding between the peoples of Russia and Azerbaijan. Currently we are preparing to sign a program of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere between Russia and Azerbaijan until 2015.

We should note successful organization and conducting the First International Forum of MGIMO in mid-April of this year in Baku. We highly assess the Baku International Humanitarian Forum, which became in demand venue for meetings of intellectuals in our countries.

We are noting with satisfaction, the significant contribution of Azerbaijan to the development of humanitarian cooperation within the CIS. We rely on the active participation of Baku in preparation for the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. "