Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation have taken steps to develop military-political cooperation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with the heads of Russian media at the TASS Editors-in-Chief Club.
"A step has been taken to raise the level of military and political cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan. We also have very trusting, close and friendly relations with other members of the CSTO, except for Armenia," he said answering the question about the attitude to the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization).
The president noted that Baku proceeds from the expediency of joining this or that association. "I think it is no secret to anyone that Russia plays the leading role in the CSTO. This was demonstrated not so long ago in the CIS space. And even before the events in Kazakhstan, it was clear to everyone," he explained. - "Having allied relations with the Russian Federation, as well as two paragraphs out of 43 directly talking about issues related to the provision of military assistance if necessary - paragraph sixth and paragraph sixteenth - I think that is enough, because it is clear that the CSTO is the CSTO as long as Russia is there. If Russia is not in the CSTO, no one will even remember the CSTO. We proceed from that".
On February 22, the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan signed a declaration on allied cooperation after talks in the Kremlin.
As the Russian leader previously noted, the document was timed to "a notable event in bilateral relations - the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations". Russian President Vladimir Putin called the signing of the declaration a new stage in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS