# Baku and Moscow Restore Alliance: Details of the Historic Meeting in Dushanbe

# Baku and Moscow Restore Alliance: Details of the Historic Meeting in Dushanbe
Politics 14

Analytical centers, at least in the post-Soviet space, observed with great interest the meeting between the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, which took place in Dushanbe on October 9 within the framework of the CIS Council of Heads of State.

Bilateral relations, significantly damaged by events of recent months, were designated as the main point of the agenda. The very fact of the meeting speaks to the intention of the two leaders to discuss all pressing matters. And it is important here that all acute problems on the agenda were addressed during the conversation in an exclusively constructive manner, writes the newspaper "Caspian".

Tragedy in Russian skies

Quite unexpectedly, the head of the Russian state began the conversation with the leader of Azerbaijan with the most sensitive topic - the aviation tragedy that occurred in December 2024 in Russian skies.

"And already then, in our first telephone conversation, I not only apologized for the fact that the tragedy occurred precisely in Russian skies, but also expressed the most sincere condolences to the families of the victims. I would like to repeat all this, renew it and say that we are, of course, as agreed, providing every assistance to the investigation," said Vladimir Putin.

Let us recall that Azerbaijan presented Russia with four conditions for the aircraft incident to be resolved: the Russian side had to apologize and take responsibility for the downed aircraft, as well as resolve the issue of compensation and punish those responsible.

Regarding the last two conditions, Vladimir Putin stated that "everything required in such tragic cases will be done from the Russian side regarding compensation, and a legal assessment will be given to the actions of all officials."

Causes of the catastrophe

The President of Russia also named the causes of this catastrophe, which is connected to several circumstances.

The Russian leader named as the first cause the fact that a Ukrainian drone was in the sky. "The second cause lies in technical failures of the Russian air defense system itself. And the two missiles that were launched did not directly hit the aircraft (if this had happened, it would have crashed on the spot), but exploded, perhaps it was self-destruction, several meters away, approximately 10 meters," he said, acknowledging that the damage to our aircraft occurred, but mainly by fragments of the missiles themselves.

Vladimir Putin added that "it is our duty to give an objective assessment of everything that happened and to identify the true causes. But this requires a certain amount of time."

Mutual interests coincide

The second part of the Russian leader's speech concerned bilateral cooperation, particularly trade and economic ties, since, as Vladimir Putin stated, "our interests, mutual interests in many spheres coincide, are very close." After all, despite everything, trade and economic ties between Azerbaijan and Russia continue to develop successfully. This is evidenced by the increased trade turnover - from 6 to 16%.

He also emphasized that thanks to the attention of the Azerbaijani side, humanitarian ties between the two countries have always been at a high level, and promised that "we will do everything to ensure this dynamic is maintained."

Regarding the situation in the region and in general at international venues, the Russian president noted that the Foreign Ministries of the two states have always worked very closely with each other. And expressed hope that "this cooperation will not simply be restored, but will continue in the spirit of our relations, in the spirit of our alliance."

Thus, our allied relations have received a chance to resume at their previous level. Especially since Putin promised to "do everything to implement all its main provisions."

Extensive and positive agenda

In his response, President Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude to President Vladimir Putin for the meeting, appreciating his step forward and the detailed information in connection with the tragedy of December last year, for the fact that the Russian leader personally controls the course of the investigation, and also for the fact that he deemed it necessary to address precisely this issue at the meeting.

As for interstate cooperation, not only trade and economic ties, but also in all other directions, relations developed successfully this year. That is, all planned "road maps" are being successfully implemented.

This meeting created a good opportunity to go through the agenda once again. "It is quite extensive and positive for us," said the President of Azerbaijan in conclusion, expressing confidence "that the messages we are sending to our societies today will be received just as positively."

The restoration of open dialogue between Azerbaijan and Russia testifies to the fact that Baku and Moscow understand the necessity of building relations based on national interests in accordance with long-term strategic vision.

This news edited with AI

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