Ten years ago, Azerbaijan and Russia planned to increase the annual turnover of mutual goods to five billion dollars, but due to objective and subjective circumstances, it was not possible to reach this figure. Today, the parties have come close to the intended goal. Not to mention the fact that the geopolitical situation is pushing Moscow and Baku to the further expansion of bilateral relations. Russia’s entry into the Indian Ocean will only speed up that process, the Azeri pro-government media “conveys an impression” of the Russian Prime Minister’s visit to Baku and negotiations with the President of Azerbaijan.
It can be assumed that the agreement on the geopolitical priority of Moscow-Baku was reached during the three-hour talks between Aliyev and Mishustin. And it is recorded that Russia receives a “golden vein” of foreign trade, which will allow to overcome not only the sanctions restrictions in the western direction, but also, which is extremely important, to feel completely free in the Black Sea. Having reliable communication between Azerbaijan-Iran-Indian Ocean, Russia will get rid of dependence on the Bosphorus-Dardanile Strait and the Suez Canal.
A “delicacy” stands out here. the parties signed an agreement on the modernization of automobile communication and customs infrastructures for the current and next year. The 164-kilometer section of Rest-Iranian Astara, the construction of which has been financed by Russia, is missing in order to launch the railway “vein” of the international North-South transport corridor, but the Iranian side does not seem to be in a hurry. The agreement on strategic cooperation between Iran and Russia has not been signed. There is no information on what stage the negotiations are at.
However, Ilham Aliyev made an extremely important decision to ensure Russia’s access to the Indian Ocean. Taking such a step in the conditions of the current geopolitical uncertainty means, to put it mildly, moving to the camp of the second in the West-Russia competition. It remains to try to understand whether Aliyev has “paid off the bond”, as even some Azerbaijani experts are talking about, or whether he has additional expectations from Moscow in exchange for an agreement. Especially since the launch of the North-South Corridor “treads on Turkey’s foot”. Or the turkey leg.
It is extremely important to include in the calculation the fact that Azerbaijan and Russia have set a goal to increase the turnover of goods to five billion dollars this year, and Turkey reduced the volume of exports to Russia by four hundred million dollars in January. Experts firmly believe that this was done and will continue under the influence of “soft pressure” from the United States and the European Union. Is it possible for Turkey to maintain the volume of trade with Russia through the mediation of Azerbaijan?
And, perhaps, the most important thing. Almost synchronously with the Aliyev-Mishustin talks, the delegation headed by the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Hasanov was in Ankara, and the Minister of Defense of Armenia visited Tehran. On the same day, Russia shelled the port of Odessa. According to the official version, a military object was destroyed, where Ukrainian self-propelled motorboats were being prepared for combat service. Maybe so.
But it happened when the Greek Prime Minister was visiting the port. Most recently, the Prime Minister of Armenia visited Greece, which was followed by the visit of the Minister of Defense of Greece to Yerevan, during which, as he said, he was supposed to convey information to the Armenian side about the latest developments in Turkish-Greek relations.
#Putin
