Putin in Azerbaijan

Vladimir Putin met with President of Azerbaijan of the Republic Ilham Aliyev and his spouse, First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva.

Putin’s state visit to Azerbaijan began Sunday the 18th with the informal meeting in the evening at Aliyev’s Zagulba residence, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The next day commenced with the obligatory wreath layings at the Alley of Honor in Baku where many notables are interned, including Aliyev’s father Heydar Aliyev and his mother Zarifa Aliyeva.

Next was the wreath laying at the Alley of Martyrs - a memorial complex in memory of those who died for the independence of Azerbaijan with its Eternal Flame.

The time for business was now upon the two presidents as they began talks in a restricted format that featured each nation’s foreign minister, a deputy prime minister, and each president’s #1 aide:

Ilham Aliyev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

I sincerely welcome you to Azerbaijan once again. Welcome!

Our meetings are regular, and we have already met twice this year. Today, as part of the state visit, we continue our communication. In fact, we started yesterday with a thorough exchange of views on important issues on the bilateral agenda and regional security. Today we will continue both in a narrow and expanded format.

I would like to note that we are very satisfied with the level of cooperation between our countries. The Declaration on Allied Cooperation that we signed in February 2022 is being successfully implemented in both the political and economic spheres. We see very positive dynamics and good figures.

Of course, we cooperate in both the energy and transport sectors. We pay special attention to humanitarian cooperation. And in many other areas [we cooperate], so today we will go through the agenda again in detail.

I am sure that the visit will be pleasant for you and useful for our relations. Once again, welcome!

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, dear Ilham Heydarovich.

First of all, thank you for the invitation. We have agreed on this visit for a long time, and I am very happy to be in Baku, to once again admire this city, the development of which you and, I know this firsthand, your wife pay great attention. And it shows. The city is developing, developing successfully, turning into an oasis, I would say, in the region, of course.

Our relations are developing on the basis of the declaration that we signed at the beginning of 2022. It is being implemented successfully, and a good impetus was given to the development of our bilateral relations during your visit to Moscow in April this year.

Trade and economic ties are developing successfully. I agree with you, you told me at our previous meeting in Russia that four billion [dollars] plus is a good figure, but it does not correspond to the potential of our capabilities. Indeed, here we can talk not only about energy, but also about industrial cooperation, transport, logistics, and light industry. We have many areas for collaboration.

More than four billion dollars of [Russian] direct investment in the Azerbaijani economy is also a good indicator. More than 1,270 enterprises with Russian capital operate in Azerbaijan – and this, of course,is also not the limit.

As for humanitarian relations, we attach great importance to them and are grateful to you for the attention you pay to the development of the Russian language. 300 Russian-language schools and branches of our leading higher education institutions operate in Azerbaijan. Thousands of young people from Azerbaijan study at leading universities of the Russian Federation, and we are ready to expand this cooperation.

The intergovernmental commission is working. Just recently-ten days ago, right? - a regular meeting of the intergovernmental commission was held here in Baku. It works successfully.

By the way, I know that the Days of Russian Culture were held in Azerbaijan in June of this year. Thank you very much for organizing this work.

Of course-we already touched on this topic yesterday, and we will continue today-it concerns the settlement of the situation in the South Caucasus.

It is clear and well-known to all that Russia is also facing crises, including and above all, of course, in the Ukrainian direction. But the historical involvement of Russia in the situation in the South Caucasus, even over the past few years, dictates that we need to participate in these events-of course, in the part where it is required by the parties, this is without any doubt.

If we can do something to reach the signing of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, bring it to the delimitation and demarcation of the border, and unblock the relevant areas in logistics and economy, as we have said many times, we would be very happy to do so.

Of course, after my visit to Azerbaijan, I will contact Prime Minister Nikol Vovaevich and tell you about the results of our negotiations.

I know that Azerbaijan is committed to completing all the procedures related to a full settlement, and I am well aware of this. Let's talk about it.

In general, I would like to thank you again for the invitation. I am sure this will be a very useful discussion, and I can see from the situation in the city that it is favorable. We love Baku. It is a beautiful city and, most importantly, it is developing in a way that many other large settlements could envy.

I. Aliyev: Thank you very much. [My Emphasis]

We now move to the extended format talks which are presided over by Heydar Aliyev’s portrait. Unfortunately, there’s little to read regarding this meeting as the cameras were quickly turned off. Here’s what we’re allowed to know:

I. Aliyev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear members of the delegation,

Once again, I heartily welcome you to Azerbaijan.

We have already discussed the bilateral agenda yesterday and today. We have discussed a lot of important issues of our cooperation and will continue our work in an expanded format.

First of all, I would like to once again welcome you. You are not visiting Azerbaijan for the first time, but for the first time on a state visit, and this visit is extremely important for our bilateral relations.

We have already exchanged views today and expressed satisfaction with the development of relations between our countries, relations between friends, neighbors and allies. We see positive dynamics in all areas. The composition of our delegations is also very illustrative and speaks for itself. In other words, there are indeed a lot of topics for discussing cooperation, and the scope of our mutual activities is expanding from year to year.

We are determined to strengthen our cooperation in all areas, and I am sure that your visit will be another important step in bringing our countries and peoples closer together.

Once again, welcome!

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, dear Ilham Heydarovich.

Thank you very much for the invitation. As you have already noted, we have a very representative delegation from both sides. The Government of the Russian Federation is almost fully represented here.

We have already mentioned and recalled that just recently, ten days ago, an intergovernmental commission was held, which noted the development of our relations – and not just stated, but noted that we are fully implementing our agreements, which were spelled out in the relevant declaration of 2022, and in accordance with the agreements, the agreements reached during your visit in April of this year.

Working with such a broad team makes it possible to outline steps for the near future. We have now managed, although it is called "in a narrow format", but to go through a number of issues of an absolutely priority nature.

We still have to sign the relevant documents, and our colleagues had the opportunity - last night, just as we did, in an informal setting, and today during the day-to talk among themselves and outline steps for the near future.

So thank you very much. [My Emphasis]

The timeline suggests the two presidents left their delegations to continue their discussion while they addressed the media for about 20-minutes and signed documents:

I. Aliyev: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear guests, Dear friends!

Once again, I extend my warmest greetings to our dear guests. The President of the Russian Federation is paying a state visit to Azerbaijan. The visit is of a special nature. Our high-level meetings are regular. This year we met twice: once in Moscow, once on the sidelines of an international event. But, of course, the format and nature of the state visit is a special case, so to speak, and indicates a high level of interstate relations.

The documents adopted today, including, first of all, the Joint Declaration of the Presidents, once again confirm the friendly and allied nature of our relations.

The provision on the Declaration on Allied Cooperation, which was signed in February 2022, is being successfully implemented. Our countries act as allies, as friends, as close partners and neighbors.

Today we discussed in detail a wide range of interstate relations. It is even enough to look at the composition of the delegations to see that the scope of activities of interstate structures is actually quite extensive.

We have analyzed in detail the issues related to trade and economic relations. The growth of trade turnover both last year and in the first six months of this year indicates a great potential for cooperation. Last year, we crossed the threshold of four billion dollars and exchanged views that, of course, this is not the limit.

Special attention is always paid to the sphere of humanitarian cooperation. There are 324 Russian-language schools in Azerbaijan, where about 160,000 students study. More than 800,000 students study Russian as a second language. There are Russian-language departments in 26 higher education institutions of Azerbaijan, where more than 15 thousand students study.

A branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University and Sechenov Medical University is successfully operating. Today we also discussed the development of relations in the field of education.

We also discussed issues related to regional security in detail at the meeting in a narrow format. After September of last year, a completely new situation has emerged in the region – Azerbaijan has fully restored its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Naturally, the new situation opens up new opportunities for establishing a lasting and lasting peace in the South Caucasus. The stability and security of the entire South Caucasus region largely depends on close cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan.

We discussed in detail the implementation of the North-South project, which is extremely important for our interstate relations, as well as for issues related to regional transport corridors and transport routes.

I must say that both the railway and automobile segments of the North–South corridor have been fully implemented and are functioning successfully in Azerbaijan. At the moment, we are actively engaged in upgrading the railway section of this corridor in order to increase its capacity. We are talking about the possibility of transporting cargo from 15 million tons a year and above – up to 30 [million], and this is quite realistic. In this case, both Russia and Azerbaijan, and I hope that other participants of this corridor will continue their activities together.

Again, I must say that this year we have already provided funds of about $ 120 million, in dollar terms, for the modernization of this railway section in order to reach the required capacity.

There are 20 flights a day between different cities of Russia and Azerbaijan. I must say that even in the days of the Soviet Union, there was no such number of mutual flights. Moreover, they are approximately equally distributed between Azerbaijani and Russian carriers. This means that contacts between people are regular. And today we also noted an increase in mutual visits between citizens of our countries.

In the energy sector, the situation in both the oil and gas sector and the electricity sector was analyzed in detail. We are actively working in this direction, and I am sure that we will continue to coordinate our activities.

We also exchanged views on the issue that concerns both sides, namely, the environmental situation in the Caspian Sea, its catastrophic shallowing. From the window of the room where we were negotiating, I showed Vladimir Vladimirovich the rocks that were still under water two years ago, and today they are already a meter above the surface. And we see this all along the coast of the Absheron Peninsula – and not only along the entire coast of Azerbaijan. We agreed to work together to analyze the situation and outline ways both in a bilateral format and in a five-sided format, in order to prevent a possible environmental catastrophe. That is, we can already see the manifestation of this ecological disaster with the naked eye.

I expressed my gratitude to Vladimir Vladimirovich and the Russian side in general for supporting the candidacy of Azerbaijan as a venue for the COP-29 Climate Conference [of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change]. Russia's support was extremely important, and we are now working, including in a bilateral format, on issues related to the preparation of this climate conference.

I would like to once again express my gratitude to you, Mr President, for accepting my invitation and paying a state visit to Azerbaijan. Without a doubt, this visit is historic and will make an important contribution to strengthening friendly and allied relations between our countries.

Thank you for your attention.

Vladimir Putin: Dear Ilham Heydarovich, Dear friends and colleagues, Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to once again thank Ilham Aliyev for the invitation to pay a state visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. We are very pleased to be in the hospitable land of Azerbaijan, to admire the views of Baku, which is so prosperous and developing under your leadership.

I would like to emphasize that Russia attaches great importance to the development of multi-faceted friendly relations with Azerbaijan. These relations are based on the principles of equality, consideration of each other's interests and, of course, the close human and cultural ties that have united our peoples for centuries.

During the talks that took place today... and yesterday, we started them yesterday. I would like to thank you for the warm, family-friendly atmosphere that was created to start our meeting and work together. And today, in the same atmosphere, we have already continued business contacts in the full sense of the word. During our talks today, we discussed a wide range of issues related to our cooperation in a thorough and businesslike manner.

The Joint Statement sets out new large-scale tasks for the further dynamic development of the entire range of bilateral relations. The documents signed today will also contribute to their solution.

Much attention was paid to the development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation. This is natural, because Russia and Azerbaijan are important economic partners for each other. It was already mentioned, as I said at the beginning of our meeting today: the turnover is just over four billion dollars, and it is growing, and this year it has already increased by 17 percent in the first half of the year. More than four billion [dollars] of direct investment in the Azerbaijani economy. And of course, almost 1,300 enterprises [with Russian participation] operating in the Azerbaijani market indicate that the situation is developing in a positive way and has good prospects for development.

The President of Azerbaijan just spoke about the areas in which we are working. Each of them is of real strategic importance to us.

Key issues of economic cooperation are kept under constant review by colleagues from the Intergovernmental Commission. Its regular meeting, held in Baku on the eve of our visit, was very productive.

Russia is one of the largest investors [in the Azerbaijani economy], as I have already said, and we are only too happy about this.

Our companies feel quite comfortable in the Azerbaijani market. It has already been mentioned here: Lukoil, KAMAZ, which organized the assembly production, Sollers and UAZ cars. They are working successfully, and there are prospects for development. We are grateful to the Azerbaijani authorities for the conditions created for their work.

Transmashholding signed another contract in February for the production of a large batch of Russian railcars for the Baku Metro. I hope that those who will use these compounds will also be satisfied.

The Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation, as President [Aliyev] also said, together with the Baku Shipyard, is launching the production of modern river–sea tankers for the transportation of petroleum products. Their use, including on the Azov-Black Sea and Caspian routes, will significantly increase the supply of energy resources to world markets.

I would like to highlight our joint plans for the implementation of the North – South project. This will allow us to reach the shores of the Indian Ocean and use these routes for mutual benefit and mutual interest.

Humanitarian ties are actively expanding. In June, Azerbaijan successfully hosted the Days of Russian Culture, which included exhibitions, concerts, theatrical performances and other bright cultural events.

By good tradition, we invite our Azerbaijani friends to come to the 10th anniversary St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum in September.

The Russian language is widely and freely used in Azerbaijan. We feel that this trend is strongly supported by the leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Ilham Heydarovich, we are grateful to you for your attention to the Russian language. There are more than 300 Russian-language schools in the country, and branches of MSU and Sechenov Moscow Medical University have been opened.

At the moment – we have just discussed this when working in a broad group – the initiative to create a Russian-Azerbaijani university in Baku is being discussed. The Azerbaijani President supported this idea. I hope that we will implement it quickly enough. St. Petersburg State University is ready to join such a project from our side.

Russia is also doing a lot to train highly qualified personnel for Azerbaijan. Currently, about eight thousand Azerbaijani young people study at Russian universities, including more than a thousand at the expense of the Russian federal budget.

Our countries honor the feat of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War. They remember that our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers together defended our common Homeland and made a decisive contribution to saving the world from Nazism. Ilham Heydarovich and I agreed to celebrate the upcoming 80th anniversary of our common Great Victory.

As I have already said, a number of issues on the regional agenda were also discussed at the talks, naturally, taking into account the role that Azerbaijan plays in the Caspian region and in Transcaucasia.

Current international topics were also discussed. In foreign policy, both our countries firmly adhere to the principle of the rule of international law, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.

Russia and Azerbaijan closely coordinate their efforts on key multilateral platforms, including the UN and, of course, the Commonwealth of Independent States. In October, we will be glad to see Ilham Heydarovich at the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Moscow, as well as at the meeting in the "outreach" format, which will be held within the framework of the BRICS summit in Kazan in October this year.

We also paid attention to the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. I would like to emphasize that Russia will continue to contribute in every possible way to the normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian cooperation and the conclusion of a peace treaty based on the well-known trilateral agreements reached by the Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia in 2020-2022.

We are also ready to help delineate and demarcate the border, bearing in mind that we have relevant documents dating back to the Soviet Union, unblock cross-border routes, and establish humanitarian contacts.

We believe that lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus fully meet the fundamental interests of all States and peoples in the region.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again that we are certainly satisfied with the results of the visit. I am confident that the negotiations held today and the agreements reached will serve to further strengthen the Russian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership.

Thank you for your attention. [My Emphasis]

It appears there’s little to worry about in the relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. The issue of the Caspian Sea will be very difficult to solve without increasing precipitation in the areas of its watersheds. This snippet from its Wiki page provides some clues as to why this shallowing’s happening:

The sea stretches 1,200 km (750 mi) from north to south, with an average width of 320 km (200 mi). Its gross coverage is 386,400 km² (149,200 sq mi) and the surface is about 27 m (89 ft) below sea level. Its main freshwater inflow, Europe's longest river, the Volga, enters at the shallow north end. Two deep basins form its central and southern zones. These lead to horizontal differences in temperature, salinity, and ecology. The seabed in the south reaches 1,023 m (3,356 ft) below sea level, which is the third-lowest natural non-oceanic depression on Earth after Baikal and Tanganyika lakes. [My Emphasis]

After meeting the media, a short tour of Baku was made.

A stop was made at Baku’s Cathedral of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. Visting famous Russian Orthodox buildings seems to be one of Putin’s hobbies.

One of the interesting things about Orthodoxy is its many icons, and Putin also seems to be the delivery man on these visits too. This one is the Transfiguration of the Lord:

The all-important Joint statement by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had most of its contents explained to the media, although point number 7 needs to be provided here:

7. The Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan reaffirmed their desire to contribute to the world order, based on international law, free from double standards and excluding the creation of dividing lines. The Russian Federation noted the importance of strengthening practical cooperation in order to create fair architecture of Eurasian security. Parties recognize the important role of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Maintaining Peace, Security, stability and sustainable development. The Russian Federation supports raising the status of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the SCO, as well as its interest in strengthening cooperation with BRICS.

I see that Lavrov was kept busy fielding questions from Russian media while in Baku. Only one of the five questions put to him concerns the Azerbaijan visit which I’ll provide below. The others all deal with the SMO and will appear in another article having the correct context. Here’s the one related Q&A asked by Channel One, Baku:

Question: Did you discuss the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement yesterday during an informal meeting between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev? Is this topic on today's agenda?

Sergey Lavrov: What was discussed yesterday one-on-one is the business of the two presidents. During the press conference, they will certainly mention their assessments of the current state of relations between Baku and Yerevan.

We are convinced that the main thing is to follow the spirit and letter of the series of trilateral agreements reached by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020-2022 (1, 2, 3, 4). They cover all aspects of the situation, as well as issues that need to be resolved in order to finally and completely resolve it.

We are in favor of concluding a peace treaty as soon as possible and unblocking communications. Unfortunately, as far as communications through the Syunik district of Armenia are concerned, it is the Armenian leadership that is sabotaging the agreement signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. It is difficult to understand what the meaning of such a position is.

The foundation laid within the framework of trilateral meetings and documents remains fully relevant. [My Emphasis]

Well, not much was mentioned to the media. I’m quite certain Putin and Aliyev talked about the situation and what’s become of Pashinyan. Overall, Putin’s visit wasn’t nearly as dramatic as his trip to the DPRK or to Vietnam afterwards. He didn’t write an open letter to Azerbaijanis. IMO, this trip was very similar to the meetings Putin holds with leaders of Russia’s regions. I’d also predict Azerbaijan becomes an SCO and BRICS member in the near future. Now Russia needs to fix Georgia and await the conflict that will likely erupt in Moldova as its elections become imminent.

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