Trilateral meeting

The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia concluded a declaration for cooperation

In August the presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia during trilateral meeting in Baku concluded a declaration affirming their intent to develop trilateral cooperation. The declaration covers cooperation areas such as joint efforts to fight terrorism, settle regional conflicts, work together on the Caspian Sea, and develop ties in the energy sector, transport and other areas. Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Hassan Rouhani agreed to establish working groups in the cooperation areas of mutual interest.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia sad, that “Azerbaijan and Iran are good neighbours and important partners for Russia. We have amassed a rich history of productive cooperation. No doubt, today we are opening a new chapter in our relations by embarking on cooperation in a trilateral format. We believe the need for this format is clear: the three countries have a shared interest in coordinating approaches on a broad range of regional and global issues, and in continuing to promote multifaceted practical cooperation on trade and the economy.

I would also like to note that all countries, or at any rate many countries, are facing similar problems. I am referring to the continued global economic crisis and persisting tensions. For our nations this is especially relevant because the tensions I have just mentioned exist on our borders both in Afghanistan and the Middle East. The area of instability and ongoing conflicts, the mounting terrorist threat, primarily from ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organisations, pose a real danger to us.

In order to search for ways to resolve these problems we need to develop closer cooperation between our countries. The main areas of trilateral cooperation are mapped out in the declaration that we will adopt following today’s summit.

I would like to emphasize some issues that Russia considers important. For example, we consider it expedient to step up the exchange of information on the activities of international terrorist organizations. This is needed in order to more effectively curb the transit of militants, weapons and drugs via our territories.

We hope that trilateral dialogue on Caspian issues will help us complete work on the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea ahead of schedule. I am convinced that signing and implementing this convention is in the interests of the five Caspian states.

The prospects of cooperation on transport infrastructure are promising. I am referring to the plans to create a Western wing of the North-South international corridor. In the energy industry priority should be given to the implementation of projects for the exploration and development of oil and gas deposits, first of all in the Caspian region. We are ready to discuss mutually beneficial projects on the joint use of pipeline infrastructure for the transit of raw materials.

Naturally, more attention should be paid to cooperation in the areas of culture, tourism, youth exchanges and education. We need to promote direct ties between the regions of our three states. I am convinced that in the future cooperation between neighbours – Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran – will be pragmatic and mutually advantageous. It will meet the vital interests of our nations and create fresh opportunities for the dynamic development of the entire Caspian region. Needless to say, we still have a lot to do, and Russia – let me assure you of this, colleagues – is prepared to work together. Thank you for your time”.

The same day Vladimir Putin and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met. At this meeting Ilham Aliyev sad: “We work together actively at international venues, strengthen our political dialogue, develop our economic, transport and energy ties, and we have good results in developing our humanitarian cooperation too.

I would particularly like to stress Russia’s role in settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. We value this role, and your personal involvement plays a very important part in the settlement process. We had a meeting in St Petersburg in June devoted specifically to this issue, and I thank you for your active participation in this process.”

President of Russia Vladimir Putin noted: “I fully agree with your description of our relations, which have indeed become a strategic partnership not just on paper but in reality. It is very good to see that our ties are greatly diversified now, developing in different areas. In the humanitarian area — and you put forward the proposal to develop this dimension of our relations — we now hold a regular top-level Humanitarian Forum. This is a top-level event taking place under our patronage. Thus, Speaker of the Russian Parliament’s upper house Valentina Matviyenko took part in the latest forum.

Close to 600 Russian companies work in Azerbaijan and direct investment comes to $1.4 billion. There are some points I would like to note now. As we all know, for various reasons such as the crisis affecting both the global economy and our own, the drop in the prices of our traditional export goods and the related problems with exchange rate differences, our trade turnover has dropped in value terms.

It is therefore very timely that we have this chance to discuss these matters today and find solutions to these issues. We have built an excellent base in this area, and overall, we are maintaining the physical volumes of trade. I fully agree with you here.

We also have promising new projects, not only in the energy sector, of course, but in other sectors such as machine-building and high technology. I think this is very important. We continue our cooperation on the Caspian Sea, including our military cooperation.

Thank you very much for organizing this trilateral meeting. This was also your initiative and we do indeed have matters to discuss in this format, new projects in the Caspian Sea, and on the broader plane, transport, the energy sector, and the development and diversification of our trilateral trade and economic ties.”