Settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains one of Moscow's foreign policy priorities

The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is on an official visit to Russia on May 24-26. The program of the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister included a meeting with the chairman of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

At a joint press conference after the meeting, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that "The Russian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership is based on  principles of equality, good neighbourliness, and centuries-old traditions of friendship and mutual respect. And all this reflects, of course, the interests of our peoples. Today's talks confirmed the strong commitment of our countries to follow this course, which is confirmed by the top leaders of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan. Our strategic partnership is important in bilateral terms and in terms of strengthening stability and security in the South Caucasus and the Caspian region. "

"We appreciate the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the events in Moscow in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and his decision to send a military unit to participate in the parade on Red Square on May 9. We hold sacred in our memory the decisive contribution of the peoples of the Soviet Union to the defeat of Nazism.

We noted with satisfaction the development of our bilateral relations in all areas. It was noted that important regular, confidential political dialogue is at the highest level. The economy is developing. Last year turnover, according to our statistics, reached a historic high, increasing by 12% compared with the previous year. This year there is also a positive trend. Solutions to last year's meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation are being actively implemented. In the autumn of this year the next meeting of this important mechanism is planned," Lavrov said.

According to him, Azerbaijan maintains ties with the majority of Russian regions, "Since the beginning of this year delegations of Krasnodar Territory, Tatarstan, North Ossetia and Dagestan have been there. The VI Russian-Azerbaijani inter-regional forum in Yekaterinburg, which will be held this year, is already being prepared."

According to Lavrov, the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan "highly appreciated the course of implementation of the program of humanitarian cooperation between our countries until 2016. A joint project of the presidents of our countries is the Baku International Humanitarian Forum, which has already received international recognition and became a very, very popular platform for discussing the acute issues of our time with the involvement of civil society. We reviewed international and regional issues. They exchanged views on the Karabakh issue. In Russia, we continue to consider contributing to an achievement of agreements between the parties of the conflict as one of our foreign policy priorities. And we will continue actively to promote a search for mutually acceptable agreements through bilateral channels as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and together with our partners from the US and France."

The Russian Foreign Minister reiterated appreciation of the balanced position of Azerbaijan on Ukrainian problems: "We share the view that everything must be done to accelerate the efforts for a political settlement of the crisis based on the implementation of the Minsk agreement of 12 February, which suggests, as you know, the establishment of sustainable direct dialogue with Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk. We are very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Donbass, the socio-economic degradation of the region, which is the result of an actual blockade announced by the Ukrainian authorities. Its removal is also provided for by the Minsk agreements. We urge the Ukrainian authorities to carry them out."

The sides also discussed the Caspian theme. "In the past year there was significant progress in the multilateral negotiations on a draft convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. The results of the fourth Caspian summit, which was held last September in Astrakhan, allow for progress on a number of issues, which have not yet been rebuked for mutually acceptable framing. We  agreed to continue our cooperation, coordinate the positions of our delegations to the UN, CIS, OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Further development and deepening of our cooperation in international affairs will contribute to the Plan of Consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, which we have just signed, in the current and future years."

Lavrov said that in three weeks the first European Games in history will start in Baku, which will be attended by a representative sporting delegation of the Russian Federation, and by a government delegation as well. "We sincerely wish success to our Azerbaijani friends in holding the event. I am convinced that the spectacle will be very impressive and will please us all with high sporting achievements," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.