Top Russian security official says Moscow supports Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - A top Russian security official said on Tuesday that Moscow supports the normalization process ongoing between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

A statement by Azerbaijan’s presidency said the remarks were made by Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergey Shoygu during a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

The statement said Aliyev expressed that Shoygu's visit created a good opportunity to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest between Russia and Azerbaijan.

Expressing that regular contact between the two countries regarding ongoing processes in the region is important, Aliyev was quoted as saying that Russian-Azerbaijani relations are “developing successfully.”

Aliyev noted the successful implementation of the decisions made between the political leadership of both countries, the statement further said, adding that Russia-Azerbaijan ties are an example for “some neighboring states,” as well as an “important security factor” in the South Caucasus and the region.

For his part, Shoygu was quoted as saying that relations between the two countries are developing successfully in the fields of regional security, military-technical, transport, and economy.

Shoygu further said that very important issues are on the agenda of bilateral cooperation and have been successfully resolved.

He cited the implementation of the North-South Transport Corridor, a 7,200-kilometer (4,473-mile) multimode transportation network, as an example.

“The prospects of cooperation in the ‘3+3’ format were discussed at the meeting,” the statement added.

Shoygu arrived in Azerbaijan following a working visit to neighboring Iran, where he held talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Ahmadian, as well as Chief of Iran’s General Staff Mohammad Bagheri and newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.