Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
Trend:
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Angelino Alfano on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a message Feb. 16.
Noting the close cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy in different spheres the ministers stressed the importance of high-level mutual visits for further development of relations.
The Italian minister said that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner of Italy and his country attaches particular importance to its cooperation with Azerbaijan. Noting partnership ties between our countries Mammadyarov stressed that Italy is Azerbaijan’s one of the most important partners in the European Union and Azerbaijan is interested in further strengthening the cooperation with Italy.
The ministers stressed the strategic importance of cooperation in energy field between the countries and in this regard, special emphasize was made to the Southern Gas Corridor and TANAP and TAP projects. The Italian minister underlined the significance of the above-mentioned projects in diversification of gas supplies and ensuring energy security of his country. The sides praised the results of Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor held in Baku on February 15, 2018.
Briefing on the North-South and East-West transport corridors, as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project minister Elmar Mammadyarov touched upon the necessity of cooperation in this area.
Noting Italy’s OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in 2018 minister Mammadyarov highly appreciated the inclusion of the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict via the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs into the priorities of Italian OSCE Chairmanship. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov talked about the current status of negotiation process on settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stressed that troops of Armenia should be fully, immediately and unconditionally withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and OSCE documents, which constitute the basis for resolution of the conflict.