On March 13, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, arrived in Germany for a working visit, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

Meeting with heads of leading German companies

On the same day, Ilham Aliyev met with heads of leading German companies in Berlin.

Ilham Aliyev said: "Some countries already started receiving electricity from Azerbaijan and, of course, natural gas starting something more than two years ago. But, due to the growing demand in Europe for natural gas from new sources, we are now planning to expand our pipeline capacity. In particular, for TANAP, which has a capacity of 16 bcm, we will expand up to 32, and TAP, which has a capacity of 10 bcm, will be expanded, we plan up to 20. And that is mainly because of the growing demand from Europe. Because, you can imagine the pipeline of the length of 3,500 kilometers integrated, free pipeline system commissioned January 1, 2021, now needs expansion."

"After the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, we got requests from more than 10 European countries with respect to gas supply or increase of existing gas supply. And we're doing everything to satisfy our partners' needs. We already have a pretty diversified geography of our gas supply," he added.

The president stressed, "Another issue, which will be part of our discussions, is transportation and logistics. We worked very hard to channel the funds we accumulated from energy sales. So, revenues from oil and gas to channel to transportation infrastructure, now it is almost done. It was almost done a game based on those prognoses, which we had and which actually are totally covered by our infrastructure. But now, again, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, the demand for Azerbaijani transportation infrastructure is growing. Last year we had an increase in transit goods by more than 75%, and we even had some congestion at our relatively newly-built trade seaport, which has a handling capacity of 15 million tons."

Meeting with Frank-Walter Steinmeier

On March 14, Ilham Aliyev held a one-on-one meeting with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, in Berlin.

Following the one-on-one meeting, Ilham Aliyev held an expanded meeting with Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.

The President of Germany noted that in the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, discussions were held regarding the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the signing of a peace treaty. He was hopeful that the peace treaty would be signed.

The President of Azerbaijan noted that the initiative to sign the peace agreement, which includes five principles, was put forward by Azerbaijan, and the peace agreement between the two countries could be signed based on these principles. President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan's position consisted of two approaches. The first approach is signing a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the second is the implementation of dialogue with the Armenian residents of Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.

Touching upon the issue of the Lachin road in Azerbaijan, the head of state said that Armenia's claims about the blockade of this road were completely groundless, that there was traffic along the road, that more than 4,000 vehicles and over 150 people in need of medical assistance had passed along the road since December 12.

President Ilham Aliyev stated that the Azerbaijani side was concerned about the presence of Armenian armed forces in the Azerbaijani territories where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed and using the Lachin road for military purposes and military transport.

The head of state added that Armenia had not fulfilled its obligations regarding the opening of the Zangezur corridor under the Trilateral Statement and provided information about Azerbaijan's proposal to establish a border checkpoint at the end of the Lachin road on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Emphasizing that the launch of the Zangezur corridor would create opportunities for the emergence of a new transport route, President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was rapidly continuing the construction of railways and highways in its territory.

Meeting with Olaf Scholz

On March 14, President Ilham Aliyev held a one-on-one meeting with Olaf Scholz, the German Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

 Following the tête-à-tête meeting, Aliyev and Scholz held an expanded meeting.

At a press conference following the meetings, Olaf Scholz stated: "Azerbaijan is becoming an increasingly important partner for Germany and the European Union. This country has great potential for energy supply to both Germany and the European Union, and Azerbaijan can contribute. At the same time, renewable energy is also a subject of our cooperation."

"Mr. President Aliyev and I have also exchanged views on Russia's attack on Ukraine. We have also exchanged views on the impact of this attack and this war on Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus. I have clearly stated our position. In our opinion, Russia's war of aggression clearly violates international law. This war of aggression by Russia marks the beginning of a new era, so to speak, from a geopolitical point of view," he added.

The federal chancellor stressed, "It is important for us that the long-term conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia should be resolved peacefully. Frankly speaking, Germany is a bit worried about the unstable situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Of course, there is a danger of tensions rising there, and the developments of the last months and weeks have made this quite evident. We wish this conflict finds a long-term and acceptable solution on the spot and in a short time. When we say a peaceful solution, we mean that the territorial integrity of both Azerbaijan and Armenia should be ensured, of course. At the same time, the human rights and freedoms of the people of both countries must be protected and aligned with international law. Of course, Germany is ready to provide support here. As you may know, there is a civilian mission of the European Union in Armenia. Germany supports this mission, and the head of this mission represents Germany."

Ilham Aliyev stated: "We are increasing our gas exports to Europe. In 2021, we exported 8 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe; this year, the figure will reach nearly 12 billion cubic meters. This is half of our total exports, and we would like to expand our export geography in Europe in the coming years."

"I must also state that, unfortunately, the leadership of Armenia, which used to see Karabakh as Armenia, missed its chance for peace. In 2019, the incumbent prime minister of Armenia said, "Karabakh is Armenia, full stop." That dealt the biggest blow to the peace talks. During the 44-day Patriotic War, we proved that Karabakh is Azerbaijan, exclamation mark! We put this exclamation mark in Shusha on November 8, 2020," he added.

Aliyev said: "Now is the time for peace. We have proposed peace to Armenia and offered a peace treaty based on five principles. I do hope that Armenia does not miss this chance and era of peace and cooperation finally begins in the South Caucasus."

An Azerbaijani journalist asked the German leader: "At the press conference held with the Prime Minister of Armenia on March 2, you stated that the conflict could be resolved based on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the right of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination and that these principles are the same for everyone. I question whether these principles can be applied to South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Donbas, and Transnistria territories?"

He answered, "Let’s take an ongoing conflict. Let's take Russia's attempt to occupy a part of Ukraine. We will never allow that to happen; we disagree with that - the annexation of Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kherson, and other parts resulting from fake referendums, i.e., occupying them. We disagree with this, and we have clearly stated our position here that the UN Charter does not allow this; this action is against international law. At the same time, we clearly stated our position, and that is why the international community and we don't recognize Nagorno-Karabakh."

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