Newly appointed Azerbaijani ambassador presents credentials to President Putin

A ceremony for the presentation of credentials is currently taking place in the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving credentials from 28 newly arrived foreign ambassadors, Caliber.Az reports citing local media.

Among those presenting credentials to the President is Rahman Mustafayev, the newly appointed Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia.

The ceremony is being held in the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

On October 1, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order recalling Mustafayev from his previous positions as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In the same order, he appointed Mustafayev as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation.

Mustafayev was born on September 26, 1963, in Baku. He graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1985. In 1993, he defended his doctoral thesis on "Islam in the Theory and Practice of State Building in Muslim Countries."

From 2003 to 2005, he completed language courses at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. He began his career in August 1987 in the Middle East and North Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. From February 1988 to May 1992, he served as a secretary and attaché at the USSR Embassy (and later the Russian Embassy) in Sudan.

Following this, from December 1992 to February 1993, he was the head of the foreign policy department for the newspaper "Azadlyg." From February 1993, he served as a senior adviser in the press service of the office of the President of Azerbaijan.

Between October 1994 and October 1997, Mustafayev was the second and then first secretary of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia. He later became the Director of the International Relations Department of the State Privatisation Agency of Azerbaijan from October 1997 to November 1999.

From December 1999 to April 2006, he was a political counsellor at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia. He then served as Deputy Director and later Director of the Europe and America Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

On October 22, 2009, Mustafayev was promoted to the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He served as the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Greece from October 22, 2009, to June 23, 2017, and was also the Ambassador to Albania during this time. From June 23, 2017, to October 17, 2022, he served as Azerbaijan's ambassador to France, concurrently representing Azerbaijan to the Holy See and Monaco.

Since October 17, 2022, he has headed Azerbaijan's diplomatic mission in the Netherlands and was awarded credentials on November 30, 2022. He has also represented Azerbaijan at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Mustafayev is fluent in English, French, Greek, Arabic, and Russian.

By Tamilla Hasanova