ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
February 2, 2005 Wednesday

Moscow-Baku partnership meets interests of peoples – FM

By Ksenia Kaminskaya and Viktor Shulman

BAKU

The development of strategic partnership between Russia and
Azerbaijan meets the interests of the peoples of the two countries,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov held talks on
Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations, including Year of
Azerbaijan in Russia to open this month, the situation in the
Caucasus and interaction at the international arena.

Mamedyarov shared Sergei Lavrov’s view under which the development of
strategic partnership between Russia and Azerbaijan “meets the
interests of the peoples of the two countries and is an important
factor of peace and stability in the Caucasus.”

The Russian minister met Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev and
Prime Minister Artur Razi-zade. “Relations with Russia are very
important for Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said. He praised “political
contacts, in particular between the leadership of the two countries.”
The Azerbaijani president noted the positive development of
cooperation in the energy sector and humanitarian interaction. “This
has a positive impetus on our relations and processes in the region,”
the president said.

The talks focused on the agreements reached as part of the
Azerbaijani president’s visit to Russia in February 2004. The sides
stressed the need “to take concrete measures to develop business
partnership in order to double trade turnover in the future.”

The negotiations touched on international issues, including “steps
towards strengthening interaction in the fight against international
terrorism.” The foreign ministers of the two countries called for
“stepping up cooperation within the U.N., the CIS, the OSCE and the
Council of Europe.” They discussed problems related to increasing the
U.N. effectiveness and its reform.

Lavrov and Mamedyarov supported the Prague process of negotiations
between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the
involvement of co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group on
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. The ministers exchanged views on working
out the Caspian Sea legal status, holding the 2nd Caspian summit,
principles of the military activity on sea and building underwater
arteries.