Baku, Azerbaijan, April 30
Trend:
The relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan is very important and strong, according to the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Richard Morningstar.
Ambassador Morningstar made the remarks on April 30 in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. at a conference titled US-Azerbaijan: Vision for the Future.
He stressed that Azerbaijan has taken a courageous, independent course over the past 20 years, and-in many ways-it has been to the benefit of the United States.
"Azerbaijan has taken this course despite being in a very difficult neighborhood. Azerbaijan has and continues to cooperate tremendously on Afghanistan, by having sent troops there, allowing transit of non-lethal goods and equipment through Baku, and committing to assist the development of Afghanistan after the 2014 troop withdrawals," Morningstar said.
He went on to add that Azerbaijan has supported positions of the U.S. in the Security Council and UN General Assembly.
"Azerbaijan is one of the few post-Soviet states to vote for the resolution on Ukraine's territorial integrity. Azerbaijan has-for 20 years-undertaken an independent policy in the production and supply of its natural resources. Our cooperation and partnership continues to be huge in this area," the ambassador stressed.
"We also have strong cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism and this includes working closely on the protection of energy infrastructure. I started going to Azerbaijan 19 years ago, and the progress is huge. Baku today is on a different planet from what it was then," Morningstar added.