Conflict resolution has created conditions to elevate Baku–Moscow relations to an allied level, says Azerbaijan’s ambassador

Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have reached a new level, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Rahman Mustafayev told RTVI.

“The final settlement of the Armenian–Azerbaijani (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict has created favorable conditions for raising Baku–Moscow relations to a new level of allied cooperation,” the ambassador noted.

According to him, the end of the 30-year conflict has freed Azerbaijan’s resources for implementing strategic economic and transport projects that will connect the economies of Russia, Turkey, Iran, as well as those of Central Asia and the Middle East. Among these projects are, first and foremost, the North–South International Transport Corridor and the “Middle Corridor” initiative.

“The process of delimiting the Armenian–Azerbaijani border has begun. A 13-kilometer section of the border line has been clarified. Azerbaijan and Armenia have opened their airspace for each other’s passenger flights and their territories for cargo transit. Within the framework of the ongoing trust-building process, the first group of Azerbaijani civil society representatives recently arrived in Yerevan on a direct flight from Baku,” Mustafayev said.

He also admitted that relations between Moscow and Baku “have been tested, including because of the tragedy that occurred last December involving the downing of an AZAL passenger plane.”

Nevertheless, the results of the meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin at the CIS summit in Dushanbe on Oct. 9 have received a positive response in Baku.