Azernews.Az

BAKU - Azerbaijan’s vice-speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Ziyafat Asgarov met on Monday Celeste Wallander, United States` Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia.
Asgarov briefed Ms. Wallander on the democratic reforms carried out in his country.
He said recent visits of U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Azerbaijan were beginning of a new stage in development of relationship between the two countries.
Asgarov noted Azerbaijan and the United States were strategic partners. He added Baku supports the United States` fight against terrorism, and is taking an active part in the peacemaking mission launched by the country.
Asgarov also praised the economic cooperation between the two countries. He underlined Azerbaijan plays great role in energy security of the Euro Atlantic territory.
Touching upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Asgarov said Armenia does not honor the documents adopted by international organizations on settlement of the dispute.
According to him, the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts towards settling the conflict give no results, adding if this situation continues Azerbaijan will resort to military means to liberate its territories.
Asgarov also underlined the necessity of development of ties between the Congress and Milli Majlis.
Celeste Wallander said the main purpose of the visit was to conduct annual intergovernmental military consultations.
On the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Wallander expressed regret that the Minsk Group’s efforts had yielded no results. She underlined the conflict should be settled on the basis of the norms and principles of international law.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United Nations was present in the meeting.