President Aliyev's diplomatic meetings in Munich Strategic talks with world's top officials

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Senior Managing Director of the World Bank Axel van Trotsenburg in Munich, at the latter’s request.

Axel van Trotsenburg offered his congratulations to Azerbaijan on hosting COP29, emphasizing that it is a manifestation of the country's support for green transition and combating climate change, Azertag reports.

He noted that the World Bank is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan in this regard.

The Azerbaijani leader expressed his gratitude for the congratulations.

During the conversation, they hailed the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Bank. It was emphasized that Azerbaijan's current external debt, standing at around 7 per cent, is a highly positive indicator, and overall economic indicators exhibit a very positive trend. With COP29 focusing on climate finance, they noted that within the framework of this significant event, there are ample opportunities for cooperation between the World Bank and Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev provided information about the renewable energy projects underway in Azerbaijan, highlighting their primarily national and regional nature. In this regard, he touched upon the Caspian Sea underwater electric cable project and Azerbaijan’s increased renewable energy potential in the Caspian Sea, which now exceeds 157 gigawatts. The Azerbaijani leader noted that the country is poised to become a green energy exporter in the near future, describing all of these developments as positive steps.

In the ongoing pursuit of diplomatic initiatives, President Aliyev engaged in meeting with Secretary General of the OSCE, Deputy President of the Foundation Council, Munich Security Conference Helga Maria Schmid in Munich, at the latter’s request.

The OSCE secretary-general congratulated the President on his victory in the presidential election and on Azerbaijan's hosting of COP29. President Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude for the congratulations.

During the conversation, they touched upon cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OSCE on climate change, including the organization of joint events in this regard and shared their views on regional issues.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that the meeting organized at the initiative of the Chancellor of Germany took place in a constructive and fruitful environment. He highlighted that agreements had already been reached on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the delimitation of borders, and the negotiations on a peace treaty. In this regard, the Azerbaijani leader emphasized that a meeting at the level of foreign ministers had been agreed upon to take place shortly. The President underlined that achieving peace and signing a peace agreement is very realistic, stating that de facto peace exists in the region.

Furthermore, the President pointed out that the process of assigning the presidency of COP29 to Azerbaijan is a positive step as such as it was realized through mutual understanding and compromise between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He highlighted the necessity of continuing this dynamic.

The President of Azerbaijan emphasized that it is long overdue to completely abolish inactive structures within the OSCE framework, including the Minsk Group, the High-Level Planning Group, and entities such as the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, which he characterized as remnants of the past. He highlighted existing budgetary concerns within the OSCE framework and stressed the importance of reallocating limited financial resources towards more purposeful objectives.

Transitioning to another pivotal meeting, President Ilham Aliyev entered into discussions with Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen in Munich, at the latter’s request.

Christoph Heusgen expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani leader for accepting the invitation to the Munich Security Conference and for participating. He also extended congratulations on Azerbaijan's hosting of COP29.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked him for the invitation to the Munich Security Conference and expressed gratitude for the congratulations regarding COP29.

Christoph Heusgen emphasized that the Munich Security Conference adopts a comprehensive and detailed approach to security, considering climate change as an integral part of the security concept. In this regard, he noted that the secretariat of the Munich Security Conference is ready to collaborate with Azerbaijan within the framework of COP29 and hold a joint event during the session in Azerbaijan.

This proposal was warmly welcomed by President Ilham Aliyev. It was highlighted that Azerbaijan's COP Organizing Committee would work together in this direction with the secretariat of the Munich Security Conference. President Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan is ready to cooperate with all international partners to ensure that COP29 is result-oriented. Currently, a troika has been formed within the COP framework, bringing together the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, and Brazil.

Besides, the meeting discussed the regional issues. The Azerbaijani leader reaffirmed Azerbaijan's commitment to the peace agenda, the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the signing of a peace agreement. He underscored the successful and constructive nature of the meeting organized by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in this context.