On April 3, Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, received Edmondo Cirielli, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

Noting that relations between the two countries are developing at the level of strategic partnership, President Ilham Aliyev said that the ties are mostly related to the energy sector and emphasized that the steps taken towards Europe's energy security strengthened Azerbaijan-Italy cooperation even further. Recalling that Italy is also the top trade partner of Azerbaijan, the head of state said that a significant part of the trade constitutes Azerbaijan's oil and gas export. In this regard, he stressed the importance of taking additional steps to expand the structure of bilateral cooperation. President Ilham Aliyev briefed the Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on the normalization of the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and peace agenda and the proposals to sign a peace treaty Azerbaijan made shortly after the Second Karabakh War.

Edmondo Cirielli said the thousands-year-old Azerbaijan-Italy relations could be traced back to ancient times. Saying that Azerbaijan is an essential country for Italy, the Italian Deputy FM highlighted the country's strategic significance in terms of stability in the South Caucasus and underlined Azerbaijan's pursuit of an independent and sovereign policy in the region. In addition to political ties, Edmondo Cirielli highlighted economic cooperation's particular importance.

Notably, Italy is Azerbaijan's largest trading partner in the European Union. Trade between the two countries has been growing steadily in recent years. Italy imports mainly oil and gas from Azerbaijan while exporting machinery, vehicles, and chemicals to Azerbaijan.

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