Russian Foreign Ministry: "In 2008 Russia continued stable development of relations with Azerbaijan"

"Russia adhered to the line of strengthening constructive andpragmatic foundations in the relations with Baku under preservation of the accumulated positive potential of bilateral interaction. This policy justified itself in conditions of conduction of the multi-directional external political course by Azerbaijan", says the document.

Official Moscow also stressed continuation of an intensive political dialogue: "Five meetings of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan were held. President of Russia Medvedev paid an official visit to Baku (July), the presidents of the two countries signed a declaration of friendship and strategic partnership/ In the result of Aliyev's re-election as President of Azerbaijan, the opportunities for deepening of bilateral relations have expanded".

The document also stressed the active development of the Russian-Azerbaijan trade and economic relations last year.

"Rapidly growing trade turnover reached almost $2 bln through the first 10 months. Thus, the agreement on the high level of 2006 about doubling it was implemented. Important projects of cooperation in the oil and gas sector, including conclusion of a new intergovernmental agreement about expert of Azerbaijani oil by the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline and Gazprom's purchase of maximal volumes of gas by mutually profitable provisions from the second queue of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field were developed", says the review.

At the same time, "existing reserves in the sphere of investment cooperation was not used fully and some frontier and property problems were not settled".

"The military and military and technical cooperation was conducted considering the need to maintan balance of powers in the Caucasus region. The results of the working visit of Russian Defense Minister Serdukov to Baku (December) confirmed the correctness of this line. The second session of the Russian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission on military and technical cooperation (July) was held.

The main component of bilateral relations remained the humanitarian cooperation, conducted on the basis of the due program for 2007-2009. Measures were taken to preserve positions of the Russian language, Russian information and educational area, provision of the rights of compatriots in Azerbaijan. The affiliate of the Moscow State University of Lomonosov opened in Baku. An interdepartmental program of cooperation in the sphere of culture for 2009-2010 was siged during the visit of Russian Minister of Culture Avdeyev to Baku (December)", says the review.

/Day.Az/