Experts: Russia values partner relations with Azerbaijan - COMMENT

Baku. 3 September. REPORT.AZ/ Moscow highly values the partner relations with Baku. The frequent meetings of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin at various platforms point to a great need for the development of a dialogue between the two countries, Report informs citing Azerbaijani expert Tofig Abbasov who commented on the results of the meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin in Sochi on September 1.

"Both Russia and Azerbaijan are capable actors that really influence the formation of a more reliable atmosphere in the Caucasus-Caspian region. We feel that these two leaders, these two states not only speak but also do a lot to overcome risks and a number of other problems," Abbasov said. He also noted that Russia highly values the partner relations with Azerbaijan: "Russia understands that Azerbaijan in the full sense of the word is a pragmatic and adequately acting country, and therefore values these relations." According to the expert, the sides also did not bypass the security issues, including the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The expert believes that given the importance of discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, this conflict is entering the level of solution. "In this case, the Armenian issue may act as a sort of a brake, because Yerevan does not know what it wants, Armenia is absolutely stuck, especially now when the country is overwhelmed with chaos and the national political elite, torn by internal contradictions, is in a faded condition. Official Yerevan will not dare to say anything definite about the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As for the sentiments in Baku and Moscow, the focus there is naturally laid on overcoming the degree of severity of this problem," Abbasov said. "The current talks between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan are the first since July 2017, held without reference to other major events," said Mikhail Neyzhmakov, a leading analyst of the Russian Agency for Political and Economic Communications.

In his opinion, Aliyev and Putin who are probably meeting now, would like to do this before the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, which will open on September 18, 2018 in New York.

"There a number of participants also plan to touch upon the problems of the South Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he added.

Commenting on the package of documents signed during the meeting of the presidents, the expert noted that the intensification of economic cooperation does not always automatically guarantee a greater political rapprochement, but it certainly can be an additional supporting point for political cooperation.

"Vladimir Putin once again made it clear that the development of the North-South transport corridor is of significant interest for Russia, in particular, a separate block was devoted to this topic during his statement following the meeting. It creates an additional reasons for cooperation between Moscow and Baku besides new challenges in the implementation of this project, primarily in connection with the foreign policy problems of Iran ", said Neyzhmakov