Baku hosts Russia-Azerbaijan Expert Council Conference

Baku hosts Russia-Azerbaijan Expert Council meeting

Baku, The Gulf Observer: The Russia-Azerbaijan Expert Council’s conference entitled “Russian-Azerbaijani relations in the 21st century: strategic partnership in the context of regional security” has been held in Baku with Azerbaijani and Russian Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Sergey Lavrov in attendance, media reports.

The meeting was co-organized by the Center for Analysis of International Relations of Azerbaijan (AIR Center) and Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).

Speaking to the event, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov highlighted the role of the Russia-Azerbaijan Expert Council (RAEC), which has become a platform for continuous cooperation between the experts of the two countries in a short period of time.

The Azerbaijani minister provided insight into the current dynamics of Azerbaijan-Russia relations, high-level dialogue, joint cooperation of the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the two countries, saying “the Expert Council plays the role of a practical platform for further development of cooperation between our experts”.

Speaking about the Azerbaijan’s sovereign foreign policy strategy based on national interests, FM Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized that sovereign policy makes Azerbaijan a valuable partner for the international community, including Russia.

Hailing the Declaration on allied interaction signed last year between Presidents of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, the speakers described the document as “new impetus to joint efforts”.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov highlighted the importance of strategic relations between the two countries.

The conference featured reports on “Russian-Azerbaijani Expert Council” by Farid Shafiyev, Chairman of AIR Center and Andrey Kortunov, Director General of RIAC.

The discussions conducted at the closed sessions of the conference covered political, economic, humanitarian and other areas of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation.

The Council adopted a communique including practical recommendations on deepening relations between the two nations.