(MENAFN- AzerNews) Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has today received Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Speaking at the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:
- Dear Sergey Viktorovich, I am glad to see you again. Welcome
to Azerbaijan! It is a good tradition that we have been hosting you
for years now. Our minister also regularly visits your country.
Your current visit is dedicated to the first anniversary of the
Declaration on allied interaction signed in Moscow on February 22
last year. It is a very significant and important step in the
development of relations between our countries. This Declaration
essentially reflects the spirit and nature of our relations, the
positive resources generated by our relations, and lays out the
path for mutual activity in the coming years.
I must say that last year was marked by a very dynamic nature of
our relations. There were several meetings at the presidential
level. You visited Azerbaijan and your colleague visited Russia.
There were mutual visits by the heads of governments and
parliaments of our countries, as well as visits by other officials.
This shows that our relations are fully developing, very important
issues are being addressed, and I think we have got off to a good
start this year. Your visit to Azerbaijan at the beginning of the
year will also give a special impetus to our interaction this
year.
If we begin to list the areas of activity that bring us
together, it will probably take a lot of time. We can count the
areas where our work is not so active yet. However, this does not
remain unnoticed either. This is why we hope for serious mutual
steps in the fields of traditional interaction – political
dialogue, energy, transport, trade, humanitarian cooperation and
alliance, which we need to bring to the level of interaction.
I would also like to note with pleasure that the pre-coronavirus
dynamic of mutual visits between the citizens of our countries is
being recovered now. Clear evidence of that is that, according to
the information provided to me today, Russian and Azerbaijani air
carriers perform 135 flights every week. That, in my opinion, this
record figure indicates that citizens of our countries are visiting
each other with great pleasure.
Of course, we will also talk about issues related to regional
security today. I do hope that 2023 will be a year of progress in
the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Or
at least we hope so. I would like to thank the Russian government
and you personally for your active participation in this process. I
think that Russia, as our friend, ally and neighbor, has a special
role to play in helping to regulate interstate relations between
Azerbaijan and Armenia. Last year, an important effort was made in
this direction, documents defining the conceptual nature of the
future peace agreement, namely the mutual recognition of the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of the two countries, were
adopted. This was confirmed by the documents adopted in Prague and
Sochi last October. These documents have laid the foundation that
can be used for reaching a peace agreement. In any case, we are
determined to do positive and constructive work together with the
Armenian side and our friend and neighbor, Russia, in order to
quickly turn the page of this hostility and return peace to the
South Caucasus.
Of course, the agenda of our relations and today's talks is not
limited to the areas I have mentioned. Therefore, we will go over
the agenda in detail. I am sure that the results of the visit will
be positive as usual. Welcome again.
x x x
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said:
- Thank you very much, dear Ilham Heydar oglu. First of all, let
me pass on President Putin's sincere greetings and friendly wishes
to you. He personally pays special attention to the development of
our allied interaction. As you said, these days we are celebrating
the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration during your visit
to the Russian Federation last year. It is beyond doubt that this
Declaration established the new level of mutual activity and
determined ways to deepen it and raise it to a qualitatively new
level. As you noted, practical cooperation is developing very
efficiently and extensively in all directions. This includes your
regular contacts with the President of the Russian Federation,
meetings between the heads of government and ministers of the two
countries.
We are in regular and personal contact with my colleague, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Aziz oglu
Bayramov, and, as it has just been said, in an online format.
Undoubtedly, the turnover of goods, which is an indicator of our
economic cooperation, is also reaching record levels, and this is
not the limit. Because you have discussed with President Putin the
preparation of several mega-projects that will be not only
bilateral, but also regional and even global in nature. You and
many of our partners are interested in these projects. This shows
how promising interaction with the participation of Russia and
Azerbaijan as leaders of this region is.
Of course, we are interested in the development of cultural
relations. We have quite a few significant days. Last year, we
celebrated the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, this year
we celebrated the first anniversary of the Declaration on allied
interaction. In the spring, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary
of the birth of Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev. We are planning a series
of events together with our Azerbaijani friends. I am sure that
these events will demonstrate the mutual interest of our citizens
in each other, in our history, and in the pages of our shared
history that have continued to this day and helped us maintain
friendly, family and kinship ties between our countries.
I completely agree with you that the indicators of the recovery
of visits by our citizens further demonstrate this situation and
our efforts to develop relations in the humanitarian and
educational sectors. We appreciate your own and your government's
attention to supporting the Russian language and creating all
conditions for Azerbaijani citizens who wish to speak Russian and
use it at work, as well as to give this opportunity to their
children.
Dear Ilham Heydar oglu, as you have emphasized, regional
security remains a very relevant topic in our bilateral and
multilateral relations. Many of our international colleagues,
including those located far from this region, are showing great
interest in creating conditions for progress in the normalization
of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As President Putin has
repeatedly said, we welcome all efforts aimed at stabilizing the
situation and creating conditions for all countries located in this
region to have the opportunity to cooperate in the interests of
their countries and peoples on the basis of mutual respect and
mutual benefit.
Let me sincerely thank you for receiving me, and I am sure that
this visit will help us to move forward along the path laid out by
President Putin and yourself.
x x x
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much,
Sergey Viktorovich. I would also like to ask you to convey my
greetings and best wishes to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and also
to express my gratitude for such a kind attitude to the memory of
Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev. We appreciate it very much. Thank
you.
---