Azerbaijani leader: We are not rivals with Russia

“All our energy projects starting from oil pipeline to gas pipeline where completed in a very friendly environment in the region. This is the first thing, and second, Russia fully respects our policy, our foreign policy, our energy policy, and we are not rivals,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper on December 15, Report informs via Azertag.

“As I sad many times, this issue is sometimes artificially exaggerated. We are in no way competitors to Russia, because Russia is supplying hundreds of billions of cubic meters to Europe and demand for Russian gas is growing. Azerbaijan just started. As I said our supply to Europe will be 11 billion in 2023 and it can stay like that if we don’t have new contract, and if we don’t invest in new production. Therefore, in no way, this could play any negative role in our relations with Russia which are very positive and well-balanced,” the president noted.