Following face to face meeting between President Ilham Aliyev and President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, the second meeting of the Council of the Presidents of two countries was held. The meeting was attended also by members of Azerbaijani and Ukrainian delegations.
Opening the meeting, President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych said:
- Dear Mister President, Esteemed Ilham Heydar oglu,
Dear friends,
I would like to welcome you in Kiev. We are very pleased of your visit, Ilham Heydar oglu. Our joint working group and interstate commission worked over many issues. The level of preparations is the highest one. Today, we will listen to the brief reports to be made by co-chairs of these commissions and finalize it. Of course, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude for paying attention to the resolution of very complicated interstate issues, including all those of fuel and energy industry which are so sensitive for us.
We understand that today Azerbaijan has a very serious position in the Caspian region and in general, wider Asian area. We consider Azerbaijan as the best partner and friend since long time. Our relations have been always stable and sincere. The most important are the ancient traditions of Azerbaijani and Ukrainian peoples. Roots of these good relations date back to hundreds of years. Therefore, I would like to note once again the proximity of our countries by welcoming you here on Ukrainian soil. All that we do are in line with strategic and national interests of our countries. Thank you very much.
Then starting his speech President Ilham ALIYEV said:
- Dear Viktor Fyodorovich, thank you very much for words and assessment you give to our relations. I do share absolutely your views about history of our relations and the current level of development of these ties. I am hopeful that my visit will serve to the issue of fostering further our links in all directions. I would like to express my gratitude for having invited me to pay an official visit to Ukraine. I am confident that this visit will yield good results.
There are friendly and brotherly relations between our peoples. Throughout the centuries, we have lead active mutual activities, were friends and worked jointly. Since our states obtained independence, we have always been partners and friends. Today, this partnership has been elevated to the strategic level and speeds up our future development and co-operation. Issues noted by you have a big importance for us and our relationship.
Issues related to energy policy between our countries have been solved always in the spirit of friendship, constructiveness and mutual benefit. During the current stage, there are new ideas and opportunities to broad this co-operation. We are very satisfied over positive impact of energy sphere of our relations on the trade turnover. We see already concrete results. Discussions conducted on co-operation in oil and gas field today and issues we had in our face to face meeting have crucial importance in my opinion for the development of our relations in general. Of course, mutual political support extended to each other for regional issues and within international organizations constitutes a strong basis in this respect. Today, it is not possible to imagine the regional co-operation between the basins of Caspian and Black Seas without the special role played by Ukraine and Azerbaijan. Therefore, I am confident that broad agenda existing between us and implementation of our plans will strengthen further our relations and bring closer our peoples. I hope to have an effective work and good outcomes. I thank you once again for hospitality.
