Azerbaijan’s envoy highlights promising areas for Baku-Moscow cooperation

Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Russia Rahman Mustafayev has highlighted promising areas for cooperation between Baku and Moscow, saying that mutually beneficial agreements and successful projects across a range of areas, from political dialogue to sectoral cooperation, could become new drivers of growth in bilateral relations.

In an interview with Lenta.Ru, he noted that this could include an increase in trade turnover or a new investment project, the establishment of a joint university or a breakthrough in addressing the problem of the Caspian Sea becoming shallower, cross-cultural days or an increase in tourist flows, as well as greater dialogue between civil society groups, youth organisations and think tanks, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

Mustafayev also highlighted the importance of studying the Azerbaijani language in Russian educational institutions, as well as opening schools with an ethnocultural component in regions where Azerbaijanis live in significant numbers.

“Relevant instructions are contained in the protocol of the April meeting of the interparliamentary commission. All of these are potential areas for growth in relations,” the ambassador stressed.

Speaking about the intensification of bilateral cooperation in 2026, Mustafayev outlined that one clear indicator of the state of relations was the number of high-level visits.

According to him, 30 bilateral visits took place during the first seven months of 2026. By comparison, there were 66 such visits in 2024, the most successful year, and 20 in 2025, which was marked by a crisis.

“If we talk about specific examples, I would first highlight the regular dialogue at the highest and senior levels. The presidents of our countries spoke by phone twice. Contacts are maintained between the heads of government and deputy prime ministers, who are co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation,” he clarified.

The ambassador further stated that interregional cooperation has also intensified, and business missions to Azerbaijan from the Ryazan Region, Altai Krai, Moscow and the Voronezh Region are planned by the end of the year.

“The Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republic of Dagestan, Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Astrakhan and Irkutsk regions, as well as other Russian regions, are showing great interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan,” he remarked.

The diplomat added that cultural and humanitarian cooperation had also gained momentum. He noted that more than 30 events had been held or were planned in Azerbaijan between March 2026 and January 2027, including concerts, theatre performances, academic music programmes, as well as cultural, educational and commemorative events.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov