Statement of the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the Russian President Viladimir Putin with ‎the representatives of mass media - January 25, 2002‎

Ladies and gentlemen!

First of all I would like to express my profound gratitude to you, Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich, for the invitation to pay a state visit to Russia, to Moscow. I thank you for the attention, hospitality and care shown to me, to all our delegation personally by you, by your colleagues. Owing to all these, the visit passes quite successfully. I am satisfied with everything since the first minute and till now.

We have conducted very necessary, important, fruitful dialogues. For example, I highly appreciate the talks with Vladimir Vladimirovich in private in at his house last night. We have in essence exchanged views on many questions and found full coincidence of views concerning, first of all, intergovernmental relations and at the same time many other questions and the international life. And our talks today in private allowed us to continue the discussion of these questions. I am satisfied with all. And, finally, our meeting with the participation of members of delegations allowed us to determine the directions of our work on cooperation in future.

I quite agree with all the thoughts told by President Putin concerning those questions which we have discussed and on which we have agreed. Therefore, I will not repeat, but I would like to say that we have paid more attention to the question of the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the Mountainous Garabagh. I am happy that the Russian Federation and personally President Putin pay more attention to it and take active measures. I cherish hope in the further active efforts of the Minsk Group of OSCE and its co-chairs - Russia is also a co-chair, and also in the further efforts of President Putin. We spoke about it, and I hope for it because the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, naturally, is of vital importance for us.

However, this question is of great importance for all the Caucasus. And, hence, not only for the Caucasus, but also for all Europe. Russia, naturally, is the Caucasian country, and it concerns not only Russia, but all Europe. I think that our public holds the same opinion that Russia can play an important, perhaps, a decisive role here.

And consequently we hope that Russia will activate its efforts in this direction. As an important question, certainly, we exchanged views on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. I am satisfied that the positions of Russia and Azerbaijan are identical in this issue, we have the same position with Kazakhstan. I, for example, have learned with satisfaction that not only the principles, but also the coordinates of the median line have already been determined between Russia and Kazakhstan. Today we have agreed on the same issue, and Vladimir Vladimirovich proposed to carry out the same work between Russia and Azerbaijan concerning the Caspian Sea, and I hope that our joint efforts and, certainly, as a whole, the vigorous activity of the Russian Federation will allow us to come to the solution of the question on the legal status to the Caspian Sea.

As to our relations in humanitarian sphere, they are good. I think that they satisfy both Russia and Azerbaijan. Communications between art workers, arts, sciences, holding the Days of the Russian culture in Azerbaijan, the Days of the Azerbaijani culture in Russia, in Moscow and in other regions of Russia, are certainly, great value. And we shall continue this practice. But our relations, cooperation, certainly, cover many other spheres in which we do not have any problems. During our talks we agreed on the activation of our efforts.

I think that our present meeting will occupy an important place in the history of the Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Its foundation was laid last year when the Russian President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin paid an official visit to Azerbaijan. This visit, I will speak openly, has a historical value for us. I think that it is also very important value for Russia, it has an exceptional importance for the Russian-Azerbaijani relations. In fact, this visit laid the foundation of the new stage of our mutual relations, a new stage for cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan. In the past period, we have managed to intensify our relations, and these relations have led to the present meeting and signature of those important documents which we have just signed.

Like Vladimir Vladimirovich, I also attach great importance to the contract on long-term economic cooperation and to the agreement on legal status of Gabala Radiolocation Station among the documents. And I think that we have done a lot and created all legal conditions for the further activity of this radar station. We shall promote our future cooperation in this sphere, and in all other spheres concerning the defense and military activity.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, many thanks to you once more. I thank you for the invitation, for the documents signed today, for those proposals connected with the development of cooperation and for the attention which you paid to us and personally to me.

Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: I want to thank once more the President and all delegation. I would like to note a detail which characterizes, in my opinion, the character of our present relations. This, at first sight, is a fine detail, but, I repeat, it again that characterizes all the complex of our mutual relations. When we met Heydar Aliyev last time, we spoke about the expansion of cooperation in economic sphere, about the purchase of our subway vans by Azerbaijan. In the budget of Russia for 2002 we have even credit resources for Azerbaijan for the sale subway vans. Today, during our negotiations I informed the President on it, he said: "We shall not buy them one credit, we have necessary sum in our budget to buy them in cash". I think that if we work like this in all the spheres, we shall move forward very actively on all the complex of our cooperation.

Heydar Aliyev: Vladimir Vladimirovich, I want to thank you especially for the invitation to the meeting in St.-Petersburg in summer for opening of the monument to the great Azerbaijan poet Nizami. At the meeting in Petersburg in the summer, we can open it together. As the remarkable monument to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin which we have opened in Baku, it will certainly, promote the Russian-Azerbaijani friendship, friendship between our peoples.

Thank you very much.