4 September 2008
AzTV Baku

Azeri-US ties are developing successfully and have entered into new areas, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said after talks with US Vice-President Dick Cheney in Baku on 3 September.

Speaking at the meeting, which was shown on Azerbaijani's state-owned AzTV the same day, Aliyev said: "We are now working on the development of diversification of energy supply. This is important not only for consumers, but also for producers of energy resources."

Aliyev stressed the development of ties in the political, economic, defence and security spheres and international peacekeeping operations. The president referred to the USA's important role in the OSCE Minsk Group, tasked with helping to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

"The resolution of the Armenian-Azeri conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh is very important for us. As one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, the USA plays an important role in helping the two sides to find ways to settle the conflict. The resolution of this conflict should be based on international legal norms, as with other conflicts, on condition that respect is shown to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the region and all countries around the world," Aliyev added.

Aliyev noted that he discussed the situation in the region at his talks with Cheney and expressed hope that strong partnership between the USA, Azerbaijan and other regional countries would strengthen security, peace, stability and cooperation in the region.

In turn, Cheney said that "the USA strongly supports Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We support the resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh problem through talks based on the principle of your country's territorial integrity and all other international legal norms. The resolution of the conflict today is more important than before, because regional peace and stability and Azerbaijan's security depend on the resolution of this issue."

Cheney highly rated Azerbaijan's loyalty to cooperation with Western countries in the energy sphere and thanked Azerbaijan for its contribution to the US-led global fight against terrorism. He supported "the Azerbaijani people's efforts to strengthen democracy and supremacy of the law, to respect human rights and to... build a modern, progressive and independent state" and expressed confidence that Azerbaijan would serve as an example in ensuring peace and stability in the region.