Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan and the United States discussed a wide range of issues, including military cooperation, during their talks on security held in Washington on Wednesday.
The agenda included NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation, anti-terror combat, security in Afghanistan and future use of the Gabala radar station, a mammoth Soviet-era facility leased by Russia in western Azerbaijan, says Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, who headed the Azerbaijani delegation at the discussions.
Azimov told a press conference at the US National Press Club that recommendations meeting the interests of both countries were developed at the meeting. "The working groups will begin cooperating on the basis of those recommendations in the near future."
The deputy minister noted that Azerbaijan and the U.S. are maintaining deep partnership and Baku "is pleased to note a heightening in the development of partnership ties."
According to Azimov, bilateral relations are not limited to the existing cooperation program. "We are also taking action to ward off threats of regional and international scales and consider our partnership within the Euro-Atlantic organization in a broader context."
During the discussions, the parties also touched upon expanding Azerbaijan’s non-military involvement in Afghanistan.
"Azerbaijan is ready to cooperate in any shape," Azimov said.
Energy security was also one of the key issues on the agenda of US-Azerbaijan talks.
"We discussed issues pertaining to ensuring security in energy infrastructure and will continue holding consultations. This, beyond a doubt, is related to the issues of security in the Caspian Sea and anti-terrorism efforts."
The sides placed a particular emphasis on ways of finding a peaceful solution to the nearly two-decade-long Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
The US delegation was represented at the discussions by Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.*