Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invitation to Moscow and described Monday's trilateral talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as fruitful and important for determining the region's future.
"First of all I would like to thank you for the invitation and the initiative to hold this meeting. I also share your opinion that this meeting is very important in order to ensure the further sustainable and secure development of our region," Aliyev said following the talks.
"I think the meeting was very useful and fruitful," he added.
The provisions of the trilateral statement on the cessation of clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh are being implemented and the Russian peacekeeping mission is effectively doing its job, Aliyev said. "In general, I would like to say that the joint statement of November 9-10 is being implemented successfully. Most of the points of this statement have been fulfilled. The Russian peacekeeping mission is doing its work effectively, and for two months, with the exception of small incidents, there have been no serious reasons for concern," he said.
"All this gives us confidence that, as Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] once said, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the past, and we must think about the future: how to live together in the neighborhood, how to strive to resolve issues of unblocking transport arteries and in the future to strengthen regional stability and security," the Azerbaijani president added.
The trilateral statement signed in Moscow opens up huge prospects, Aliyev said. "This statement opens up huge prospects. I am sure that the working group that we created today will work effectively, report to us periodically on the implementation of projects," Aliyev said. "There is not just one project, several. I am sure that all of them will be implemented," the Azerbaijani leader added.
Addressing Putin, Aliyev thanked him "for his personal participation in stopping the hostilities and in signing the November 9 statement," which ensured a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh. "I believe that you, as the leader of Russia, as a neighbor of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, once again demonstrated will, determination. And today's meeting on your initiative once again shows what great attention you pay to this issue," Aliyev stressed. " Of course it makes us very happy, because the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has already remained in history, will also largely determine the positive dynamics of the situation in the entire region, opens completely new prospects, which we, perhaps, could not even imagine before", -the president of Azerbaijan said.
Aliyev expressed hope that Baku and Yerevan would be able to overcome past disagreements, and that the peoples of the two countries would find the will and wisdom to reconcile. "We are determined to cooperate very effectively this year and in the years to come, to ensure that the situation that has developed between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the years is eventually resolved," the Azerbaijani president said. - "I am confident that there will be no attempts from the Armenian side to revise the statement of November 9, so that both nations would find the will and wisdom to think about the future and reconciliation".
Aliyev also expressed gratitude to the Russian leader for inviting and holding a trilateral meeting in Moscow with also Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. "It turned out to be very useful and fruitful because as a result of the meeting we came up with a statement," the Azerbaijani president noted. - "This is the second statement signed two months after the end of the war, and it essentially draws a line under what happened last year".
Aliyev also expressed confidence that the neighboring countries will be actively involved in the creation of transport infrastructure in the south of the Caucasus. "Unlocking transport communications is an area that can give a great [impetus] to the development of the region, as well as strengthen security because opening transport communications is in the interests of the peoples of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, and our neighbors. I am confident that neighboring countries will also be actively involved in the creation of transport corridors and the creation of an extensive network of transport arteries in our region," he said.
Earlier, Aliyev stated that Russia, along with Turkey, Armenia and Iran, will be able to use the Nakhchivan transport corridor, its creation is considered. He also spoke about the plans to restore and modernize the railroads in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The Azerbaijani leader also said he had ordered the construction of an international airport in the Fizuli region of Karabakh.
The trilateral talks were held behind closed doors and lasted almost four hours. At the beginning of the meeting, the Russian leader stated that Moscow values partnership and good-neighborly relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia and thanked his colleagues for the positive reception of the mediation efforts of the Russian side on the cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Putin stated that the agreements reached in November 2020 are being consistently implemented, which creates the necessary prerequisites for a long-term and full-scale settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on a fair basis for the benefit of both the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of RF
Based on materials TASS