Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 3
By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:
Over the past 25 years, the level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia has grown significantly, Igor Seleznev, Ph. D., senior research fellow of the Institute of Social and Political Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said.
Seleznev made the remarks Apr. 3 in Baku at a round table meeting titled “Russia-Azerbaijan: 25 Years of Diplomatic Relations. Partnership Strategy.”
“Maintaining stability and security has become one of the important issues of cooperation between Moscow and Baku in the Caspian region,” Seleznev said. “Recently, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said that he considers Azerbaijan to be an outpost of security in the Caspian Sea at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov.”
Seleznev also added that the status of the Caspian Sea is an important issue, and the Caspian littoral states haven’t been able to reach an agreement yet regarding the sea’s status.
It is encouraging that all sides are interested in maintaining stability in the Caspian Sea, he said.
Baku and Moscow are expanding cooperation in the Caspian Sea, including in the military and military-technical field, as well as in the sphere of fighting international terrorism, he added.
“Protection of the Caspian environment is another important area of the interstate cooperation,” Seleznev said. “The Caspian Sea has a vulnerable ecosystem, including due to energy projects implemented at sea.”
He added that preserving Caspian biodiversity is an important issue for the countries of the region.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa