Meeting with Ilham Aliyev

On June 23, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, Azerbaijani President’s Press Office reported.

Speaking at the meeting, Aliyev said: "I want to reiterate my satisfaction with the development of political relations, permanent dialogue at the highest level, trade and economic relations, which have shown good dynamics this year, cooperation in the fields of transport, energy and, of course, the humanitarian sphere. In other words, it would be easier to list areas we do not have close interaction. Of course, the Declaration on Allied Interaction is a significant step in our bilateral relations. It will determine the development of our relations."

"I would like to point to the intensification of the work of the trilateral working group chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. A new meeting was held in St. Petersburg recently. We hope that tangible steps will be taken to implement the November 2020 Declaration in the context of opening communications, ensuring the unimpeded delivery of Azerbaijani cargo and citizens to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. This is a legal obligation of the Armenian side. Unfortunately, more than a year and a half has passed since the end of the second Karabakh war. However, this paragraph of the Declaration has not been implemented yet," he underlined. "We look forward to the active efforts of the Russian Federation to establish lasting peace in the Caucasus," Azerbaijani President concluded.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the intergovernmental commission at the level of deputy prime ministers is active. As you said, the turnover was at a record level last year – about $3.5 billion. "According to our assessment, there is some progress in the activities of the tripartite working group on the opening of communications. We are discussing the issues to be agreed upon with the Armenian side. It seems that a general idea is being formed on how to solve the problem of organizing this work so that there are no artificial obstacles to the movement of cars with maximum comfort. Russia will help in this until the results are achieved," the Russian Foreign Minister flagged.

"You mentioned the normalization of relations, the peace agreement, and provisions of the future agreement submitted by you. We have heard that the Armenian side, Prime Minister Pashinyan, is ready to hold talks on this issue. We are ready to help here with the consent of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Of course, other international forums with the participation of Azerbaijan and Russia, such as the UN, the OSCE, and the Caspian Five, all these places, as they say, already allow us the opportunity to develop the outlines of our interaction," concluded Sergey Lavrov.

Meeting with Jeyhun Bayramov

On June 24, Sergey Lavrov visited the Alley of Martyrs and laid a wreath at the Eternal Torch monument, according to the Press Office of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Then a meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan between the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Russia. The meeting between Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Minister Sergey Lavrov began in private. It continued in an expanded format with the participation of delegations from both sides.

The sides discussed prospects for cooperation in several areas of the bilateral agenda, including political, economic, trade, humanitarian, educational, cultural, and strengthening the bilateral agreement's legal framework.

Bayramov informed about the restoration and construction of the liberated territories, which is a priority for Azerbaijan. He praised the interest of Russian companies in this process.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the current situation in the region, the implementation of trilateral statements, steps to normalize relations and peace in the region, including the activities of border delimitation commissions, the opening of all communications, and the signing of a future peace agreement.

At the end of the meeting, the Foreign Ministers signed the "Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in ensuring international information security."