Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Baku and Kiev have exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest, including the economic cooperation, as Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin visited Baku on October 3.

Klimkin’s visit is aimed at preparing for events at the level of the heads of state and discussing promising directions of the Azerbaijani-Ukrainian cooperation.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine are of strategic nature, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said as he spoke at a joint briefing with his counterpart.

“Our political positions coincide at international venues as well,” Mammadyarov said.

The FM later informed about the upcoming meeting of the Azerbaijani-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission scheduled for next year.

In turn, Klimkin noted that the two countries have achieved tangible results in the economy.

“In the first nine months of this year we achieved a greater trade turnover than in the whole 2016,” he said. “The growth was 66 percent. In addition, there is also a five-fold increase in the transportation of goods through Azerbaijan.”

Speaking about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Ukrainian minister noted that Ukraine understands its Azerbaijani friends well, as Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an aggression.

The FM stressed that Ukraine will continue to support Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

The conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as a result occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan lands, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

At a press conference following the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mammadyarov said that meeting of FMs of GUAM member countries will be held in Georgia’s Tbilisi on October 8 and will be dedicated to the 20th anniversary of creation of the organization.

Azerbaijan is interested in development of the organization, said Mammadyarov.

“Today, my Ukrainian counterpart and I discussed issues of transit through GUAM territory, which will benefit all member countries of the organization,” he noted.

Klimkin, for his part, said that GUAM countries face similar political challenges.

“We can implement a number of joint economic projects. I believe that we have a unique model of cooperation that unites the countries of the Black and Caspian Seas,” he said.

This meeting will create conditions for the development of political and economic relations with other countries, added the top diplomat.

In Baku, the Ukrainian minister was also received by President Ilham Aliyev.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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