During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Baku on 19 August, the two countries signed three agreements, three memoranda of understanding and issued a joint statement. The signing ceremony took place at the Zagulba residence of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the Caspian Sea coast.
The government-to-government cooperation agreements cover food safety, quarantine and phytosanitary issues, as well as health care, medical education and science.
The parties also signed agreements on labour inspection, climate change and a memorandum of understanding between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency.
The joint statement noted the agreement of the two countries to further strengthen interstate relations based on the principles of international law and the importance of the Declaration on Allied Cooperation signed between the two countries in February 2022.
The statement also stressed the important role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO; Azerbaijan is a dialogue partner of the organisation) and noted that the Russian side supports Baku’s upgrading of its status in the organisation and its ‘interest in cooperation with BRICS’.
Putin and Aliyev also stressed the importance of cooperation in the creation of the North-South transport corridor.
The leaders also agreed to jointly prepare the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in 2025.
Moscow and Baku plan to jointly build river-sea tankers for the transport of oil products. Russia is Azerbaijan’s third largest trading partner after Italy and Turkey. In the first six months of 2024, the volume of trade between the two countries increased by more than 5 per cent to $2.5 billion, according to Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee.
Andrey Areshev, an expert on the Caucasus and Central Asia, told the Vedomosti newspaper that the delegations focused on energy, trade and economic cooperation. According to Areshev, Moscow and Baku have long been discussing at the level of heads of state and government the return of Russian energy resources to European markets under the name of Azerbaijani energy resources.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that the parties signed an agreement on investment cooperation and the Russian president mentioned the decision on joint production of tankers for the EU market,” the expert said.
Political analyst Artur Atayev said that as part of deepening cooperation with Moscow, Baku will increase its participation in Eurasian economic projects, especially in the SCO and BRICS.
Azerbaijan’s full membership in these organisations is in the country’s national interest in terms of promoting its economic interests and participation in global infrastructure projects. Therefore, this move towards the global South is a natural step of the Azerbaijani leadership,’ Atayev said.
During the dialogue, the two leaders also discussed regional security and Armenian-Azerbaijani reconciliation. According to Putin, Russia is ready to help achieve peace between Baku and Yerevan. Putin added that after his visit he would contact Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and inform him of the results of the talks.
Areshev noted that the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh and border disputes has its own logic and is currently loosely dependent on Moscow’s participation.
Negotiations are continuing largely in a bilateral format. Yes, the Russian side is offering mediation services, but given that the intergovernmental working commissions have not met for a long time, these proposals are more a sign of courtesy,’ he added.
