On December 18, a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of Government kicked off in Moscow. Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov led the Azerbaijani delegation at the meeting.

During his speech, Ali Asadov said that the volume of commodity turnover between Azerbaijan and the CIS countries has increased by approximately 30%. According to him, the economic and commercial spheres are important directions of cooperation between the CIS countries. "Azerbaijan actively participates in economic cooperation within the framework of the organization. Last year, the volume of commodity turnover between Azerbaijan and the CIS countries increased by approximately 30%. According to the results of the ten months of the current year, another 17% increase was recorded. Mutually beneficial cooperation has been formed in transport and transit, where East-West and North-South transport corridors will be priority projects. Azerbaijan continues to modernize the transport and logistics infrastructure, which is actively used by many of our CIS partners. We are also cooperating closely within the organization's framework to expand the corridors' transmission capacity," the prime minister noted.

"Azerbaijan is determined to continue its efforts to strengthen peace and security in the region," he added. "I would like to take this opportunity to express once again Azerbaijan's full determination to continue its efforts to strengthen peace and security in the region. Considering the positive signals received recently, we consider it extremely important to continue a constructive dialogue in this direction. Rational use of this historic opportunity will allow us to achieve long-awaited peace in the region and give hope for the peaceful and safe coexistence of all people in our region," Asadov emphasized.