Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov who is in official visit in Russia has held a number of meetings to discuss the relations between the two countries as well as the regional developments.

After meeting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Bayramov also held meetings at the Federation Council and the Cabinet of Ministers of Russia on August 26.

First, Bayramov met Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly Ilyas Umakhanov to discuss bilateral cooperation in various spheres.

During the meeting, the sides noted the high level of inter-parliamentary cooperation and discussed cooperation on humanitarian, cultural, and educational spheres between the two countries, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press service has reported.

They pointed out that mutual trust exists between the leaders of the two countries, adding that the exchange of visits have given impetus to further strengthening of bilateral relations. The results of the official visit of the Azerbaijani First Vice President to Russia last year were also underlined.

They sides also discussed boosting ties within the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE, CIS, and other organizations. Referring to the legal framework of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, the documents on friendship and strategic cooperation of 1997 and 2008 years were highlighted.

Cooperation to evacuate citizens stranded in both countries due to COVID-19 was also discussed. At the end of the meeting, Bayramov was presented with the Jubilee Medal dedicated to the “75 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 years”.

On the same day, Bayramov also met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister, co-chair of the Azerbaijan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Alexei Overchuk to discuss mutual investments, including investments of Russian companies in engineering, pharmaceuticals, railways and other fields. It was noted that the commissioning of the North-South transport corridor and a new bridge over the Samur River, which are of special importance for the development of economic and trade relations, will give impetus to mutual relations.

Furthermore, the sides expressed satisfaction with the comprehensive cooperation in various fields between Azerbaijan and Russia. The implementation of the agreements reached during the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in June 2020, as well as the implementation of roadmaps for various cooperation areas was also the topic of the discussion.

Cooperation in the humanitarian, cultural and educational spheres were also discussed at the meeting as the sides emphasized the importance of expanding inter-regional cooperation and holding events to promote this cooperation.

Earlier, Bayramov met Russian counterpart Lavrov during the meeting in which they also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Addressing the presser after the meeting, Bayramov said that the negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict "must be substantive rather than an imitation of the negotiation process."

“I would like to emphasize Azerbaijan's constructive position in the process of negotiations on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. For almost 30 years, despite the occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia, Azerbaijan continues to participate in the negotiation process,” Bayramov said.

OSCE Minsk Group’s visit to region

In the meantime, Bayramov told Russian TASS news agency on August 25 that OCCE Minsk Group co-chairs mediating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will organize a meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in the Autumn. He said that, however, it would be early to talk about the dates of the meeting of the foreign ministers.

Regarding the OSCE Minsk Group’s work, Bayramov said: “We expect the guarantees from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs that Armenia is ready to conduct substantive negotiations on the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the elimination of other consequences of the armed conflict, as envisaged in UN Security Council’s four resolutions dated 1993 and the declaration of the OSCE Budapest Summit in 1994.”

Furthermore, the minister said that Armenia’s destructive actions bring the efforts of the mediators to zero. “Armenia's undermining of the conflict settlement process in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan is not limited only to the military attack on July 12,” the minister noted.

Bayramov highlighted that Armenia’s authorities undermine the negotiations process by open statements in which they exclude the possibility of liberation of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. The minister also highlighted that Armenia threatens to strike Azerbaijani civilian settlements, pursues the policy of illegal settlement in the occupied territories, thereby changing the demographic situation there.

“This list of aggressive statements and provocative steps of the Armenian side can be continued,” he added.

It should be noted that this is Bayramov’s first visit to Russia since his appointment as the country's Foreign Minister in July.

Bayramov’s visit coincides with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Azerbaijan where he was received by President Ilham Aliyev on August 25 and Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov. On the same day, Shoigu and Hasanov attended the opening ceremony of annual Sea Cup miliary competition held in Baku as part of the Army Games competition held by the Russian Defence Ministry annually.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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