Russia, Azerbaijan Agree On ‘Allied’ Ties

Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev sign a joint declaration on "allied cooperation" between their countries, Moscow, February 22, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his visiting Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday pledged to deepen political, economic and military relations between their countries and strive for the implementation of Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow.

The two leaders signed a joint declaration on bilateral “allied cooperation” during four-hour talks held in the Kremlin.

“The Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan build their relations on the basis of allied interaction, mutual respect for independence, state sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of the two countries,” reads the declaration.

It says that the two sides will not only step up Russian-Azerbaijani military cooperation but may also “consider the possibility of providing each other with military assistance.”

“The Parties refrain from any actions, including those carried out through third states, directed against each other,” adds the 7-page document.

“This declaration takes our relation to an allied level,” Aliyev told reporters after the talks.

Putin similarly emphasized the “strategic” character of the document. He said he and Aliyev also agreed to closely cooperate in implementing the Russian-brokered agreements on the opening of economic and transport links between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the demarcation of their long border.

Moscow will keep helping Baku and Yerevan to settle their “border issues” and other “acute problems,” added the Russian leader.

Aliyev complained about “very slow” progress towards the opening of a transport corridor that will connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia. He also spoke of the “post-conflict situation in the region,” effectively standing by his earlier claims that Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 war with Armenia put an end to the Karabakh dispute.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Putin noted, however, that the conflict is “not fully resolved.”

Putin spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian by phone on Monday. He invited Pashinian to pay an official visit to Moscow in April.

Armenia has for decades been Russia’s main regional ally. Its dependence on Moscow for defense and security deepened further after the 2020 war.

For its part, Azerbaijan has a military alliance with Turkey which proved critical for the outcome of the six-week war.