Russia interested in close cooperation with Azerbaijan, says Zakharova

Russia is interested in close cooperation with Azerbaijan through various regional formats such as the CIS, the SCO, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the Caspian Five, and the 3+3 regional platform — including within the framework of building a Eurasian security architecture, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during a press briefing.

“We are witnessing the strengthening of dialogue between Baku and the Eurasian Economic Union, as evidenced by the established tradition of Azerbaijan’s prime minister participating in the sessions of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council as an honorary guest. The most recent meeting took place in Minsk on Sept. 30 of this year. We positively assess our cooperation with Baku within the CIS. Our partners are very active in various areas of collaboration,” Zakharova said.

She added that Russia welcomes Azerbaijan’s accession to several final documents adopted at the Dushanbe summit on October 10.

“Azerbaijan has also supported the adoption of the 2026–2028 program for cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism — an important mid-term document outlining concrete areas of joint work among CIS countries to ensure regional security,” Zakharova noted.