Azerbaijan, Ukraine mull bilateral regional cooperation
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan and Ukraine are interested in further development of relations in all fields, including trade, economics, humanitarian and regional cooperation, deputy foreign affairs minister Khalaf Khalafov said during the videoconference with his Ukrainian counterpart on June 17.
The parties discussed the current state of relations between Baku and Kyiv, as well as issues of mutual interest in the humanitarian, military- technical, transport, agricultural, transit cargo transportation, education and healthcare fields.
Khalafov noted that there is a great potential for further development of economic cooperation between the two countries and expressed satisfaction with the level of trade turnover in the first quarter of 2020.
Moreover, he provided extensive information on transit routes created on Azerbaijan's initiative and participation, in particular the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, North-South, East-West and South-West railway routes, noting that Ukraine could also take advantage of these projects.
The parties also exchanged views on the process of negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
Thereon, both sides expressed satisfaction with the mutual support of the two countries regarding the internationally recognized territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of the state borders, stressing that this support will continue at the bilateral, regional and international levels.
Furthermore, Ukrainian Deputy foreign affairs minister Vasyl Bodnar thanked Azerbaijan on behalf of his country for humanitarian assistance provided to Ukraine in combating the spread of COVID-19.
The diplomats stressed the importance of maintaining the existing dynamics of political dialogue and agreed to concentrate their efforts on preparing the official visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Ukraine by the end of 2020.
Bodnar expressed its confidence that the visit of the Azerbaijani president to Ukraine will be a significant impetus for strengthening the strategic partnership and will allow serious progress in the implementation of joint projects.
Additionally, the sides agreed to intensify the work of ministries and agencies to prepare joint initiatives, programs and documents, as well as to hold a meeting of bilateral working institutions.
The deputy ministers also discussed practical steps to implement projects in the political, trade and economic, energy, transport, cultural and humanitarian, military and technical spheres.
In order to strengthen cooperation, it was proposed to hold meetings of the working groups of the Joint Azerbaijan-Ukraine Intergovernmental Commission in the format of videoconference.
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