Moscow and Baku intend to implement the Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran energy bridge project, despite unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told at a press conference following talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.
"The Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran energy bridge is also a very relevant and popular project. All this would be easier, more effective and more useful for multilateral cooperation in the framework of creating such a corridor if there were no illegitimate unilateral sanctions [by the US] against the Islamic Republic of Iran. But even in this situation, I am sure we will implement everything that will benefit the huge region of this part of Eurasia, " he said.
The Minister expressed support for cooperation plans between the Russian and Azerbaijani economic and transport agencies, including the construction of the North-South transport corridor with the participation of Iran and the East-West corridor in cooperation with Turkey. "Now, among the specific issues that will help us move forward in creating these international transport corridors, I will mention the need to complete the Iranian section of the Rasht-Astara railway," Lavrov said. - Today we also spoke about the interest of our countries in promoting the Astara-Baku-Astrakhan route. This is also part of the North-South corridor.
Bayramov, in turn, confirmed that issues of integration of the energy systems of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran were being worked out. In addition, according to him, measures are being taken to improve the procedure for passing through the checkpoint on the Russian-Azerbaijani border.
Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan have been discussing connecting energy systems since 2005. A tripartite working group on this issue was established in April 2018.
Lavrov: Russia supports Azerbaijan's desire to get observer status in the SCO
Russia will support Azerbaijan's request for observer status with the Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO). This was stated on Wednesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference following talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
Lavrov said that he discussed with his Azerbaijani counterpart the strengthening of coordination in multilateral structures, including the SCO. According to the Russian Minister, Baku has the status of a dialogue partner in this organization and is interested in increasing its status to an observer. "We will support such an appeal," he stressed.
The Declaration on the establishment of the SCO was signed in Shanghai in June 2001 by six states-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In 2017, India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO. It is also attended by four observer countries (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia) and six dialogue partners (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).
Trade with Russia
Lavrov also noted that the Russian-Azerbaijani trade turnover increased slightly in the first months of this year, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
"We noted that in the first months of 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the trade turnover not only did not sink, but even slightly increased," he said.
Lavrov noted that interregional ties make a significant contribution to strengthening cooperation. "We spoke in this regard about the Astrakhan region, with the Governor of which [Igor Babushkin] I just recently met. And we will pass concrete proposals on deepening ties between the Astrakhan region and its partners in the Republic of Azerbaijan," he said.
According to the Minister, the next Russian-Azerbaijani interregional forum will be held before the end of the year in Azerbaijan. In addition, according to him, depending on the success in countering the pandemic, this year the dates of the days of culture of Azerbaijan in Russia will be determined.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS