EDITOR's NOTE: Details added after the second paragraph
Azerbaijan, Baku, June 7 / Trend, K.Zerbaliyeva /
Azerbaijan and the U.S. will establish relations peculiar to the real partnership, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates, the Defense Ministry said.
Safar Abiyev expressed his confidence that Gates's visit to Baku will make a significant contribution to the development of bilateral cooperation.
Today during the visit to Azerbaijan, the U.S. Secretary of Defence met with the Azerbaijani Defence Minister. After the formal meeting national anthems of both countries were played.
Regarding to the joint contribution to the combat international terrorism and other processes to ensure security, Abiyev stressed that due to the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the situation in South Caucasus remains difficult and tense. He highly appreciated the U.S. role as the OSCE Minsk Groupco-chair, but stressed that the Azerbaijani side expects more active steps from the U.S.
The Minister also brought to the attention of his colleague that Section 907 has a negative impact on relations between the two countries.
The U.S. Secretary of Defence at the meeting stressed that Barack Obama's letter to President Ilham Aliyev, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scheduled visit to Azerbaijan and his current visit to Baku demonstrate the strategic character of partnership between the two countries.