BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24
Trend:
The step in the matter of raising the level of military-political cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan has been taken, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during the meeting with the leaders of Russia’s top mass media at the TASS headquarters, Trend reports.
"I think it is no secret to anyone that the leading role in the CSTO belongs to Russia. This was demonstrated not so long ago in the CIS. And it was clear to everyone even before the events in Kazakhstan. Having allied relations with the Russian Federation, as well as two out of 43 provisions directly dwell upon issues related to the provision of military assistance if necessary – these are provisions 6 and 16 – I think that this is quite enough. It is clear that the CSTO is the CSTO as long as Russia is there. If Russia were not in the CSTO, then no-one would even remember it. This is what we are proceeding from. Therefore, the step in the matter of raising the level of military-political cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan has been taken. We also have very trusting, close and friendly relations with other members of the CSTO, with the exception of Armenia. I think that after the end of the second Karabakh war, our relations with Armenia will also normalize. In any case, we have officially declared our desire to conclude a peace treaty with Armenia. This will probably happen at some stage. But in the current geopolitical realities, we must be realistic and should not wish for what is impossible to achieve. We must move towards establishing a lasting peace in the Caucasus. Therefore, I think that yesterday's document answers your question to a certain extent. The same, anticipating further questions, also applies to the issue related to the EurAsEC. This has also been discussed both in the expert community and in the political arena for a long time. But here too, we proceed from the principle to which extent this will meet our economic interests because our strategy and tactical steps have always been based on our own resources, on what we have at our disposal. We have managed to create a self-sufficient economy and not depend on international financial institutions or other financial injections," Azerbaijani president.
"Therefore, we will analyze everything from a pragmatic point of view. Yesterday, at a meeting with the head of the government of the Russian Federation, this topic was discussed. And our position was openly brought to the attention of the Russian side – we should put before ourselves, as it were, two sheets of paper – one with pluses and the other where there may be some restrictions or where our economic sovereignty can be corrected to some extent. And after analyzing the pros and cons, of course, a decision that is beneficial to us will be made. Along with this, I must say that Azerbaijan has signed free trade agreements with all CIS countries, including Russia – with the exception of Armenia, of course. A step towards easing economic and customs barriers has been made. As they say, let's now wait and see. We can’t guess anything and have never announced any goals that cannot be achieved in a short time. But, of course, this is on the agenda as part of the discussions within our team," the head of state said.