ISLAMABAD: 17 March 2024 – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Baku on Sunday (17 March 2024), kicking off a three-day, tri-nation tour of the South Caucasus. Meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, the Secretary General welcomed Azerbaijan’s long-standing collaboration with the Alliance, saying he looked forward to further strengthening the partnership.
Mr Stoltenberg welcomed the opportunity to discuss energy security, saying: “energy matters for our security and I welcome that Azerbaijan is developing closer and closer ties with several NATO Allies.”
President Ilham updated Secretary General on the great potential of hydropower, wind and solar power, and also connecting power production to the European market.
He further pointed to a track record of work on issues of mutual concern and thanked Azerbaijan for its contributions to NATO-led operations and missions – including in Kosovo and Afghanistan – since Azerbaijan joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace in 1994. The Alliance and Baku have also cooperated through NATO’s Science for Peace and Security programme on counter-terrorism and cyber security.
On the situation in the South Caucasus, the Secretary General underlined that “peace and stability is not only important here but for security more broadly”. He said: “Armenia and Azerbaijan now have an opportunity to achieve an enduring peace after years of conflict.”
He added: “I can just encourage you to seize this opportunity to reach a lasting peace agreement with Armenia”.
“Peace in the South Caucasus is is extremely important for the people, the countries in the region, but it also matters for the Black Sea region and for North Atlantic security, and therefore peace and stability is not only important here, but for security more broadly. And I can just encourage you to seize this opportunity to reach a lasting peace agreement with Armenia,” he said.
On Ukraine, Mr Stoltenberg said, “Russia continues to conduct war aggression against Ukraine. NATO allies are extremely concerned about the consequences of the ongoing war, and NATO allies provide support for Ukraine. I welcome the much-needed support that Azerbaijan provides to Ukraine. Also, when it comes to humanitarian aid, which is much needed, more support is needed because the situation in Ukraine is extremely difficult.”
The Secretary General called the upcoming COP29 global climate summit in Azerbaijan an important milestone: “It is important for everyone concerned about climate change but also important for our security because those issues are closely interlinked.”
President Ilham Aliyev responded , in joint press conference, “we are in an active phase of peace talks with Armenia. During my last visit to Brussels, at the press conference, I raised that issue and said that Azerbaijan made such a proposal, and we expect Armenia to respond. Once again, I’d like to say that it was our initiative to start peace negotiations. We have already had seven rounds of exchanges of comments with Armenian counterparts on a draft peace agreement. We are now closer to peace than ever before.”
” I think, and I hope, to having a breakthrough. That will be a very serious change in the South Caucasus. It will mean that long-awaited peace will come to the Caucasus, said Mr. Ilham.
Today, Azerbaijan is exporting natural gas to eight countries, six of which are member states of NATO, and two are partners to NATO. President was sure that in the coming years, the number of our partners will grow. He said, “The European Commission calls Azerbaijan a reliable partner and a pan-European gas supplier. This is, of course, a big advantage and also a big responsibility.”
On Monday, the Secretary General will meet Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Defence Minister Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov. He will then travel to Tbilisi for meetings with Georgia’s leadership. On Tuesday, Mr Stoltenberg will meet with Armenia’s leadership in Yerevan.
NATO Secretary General on Visit to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia
