STRATEGIC DIALOGUE RESUMED

From 31 March to 2 April, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a visit to Washington at the invitation of US President Barack Obama to attend the Nuclear Security Summit. Due to the wide spread of nuclear materials and technology in the world, nuclear power plants and so on, the problem of their safe use and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorist groups and man-made and natural disasters at nuclear facilities has become extremely urgent. All this was the subject of a heated debate during the summit.

Speaking to heads of state and governments from more than 60 countries and heads of influential international organizations, US President Barack Obama urged them to strengthen cooperation to ensure nuclear security. Regarding Azerbaijan, he said: "There are countries that have the potential to be transit points for smuggling nuclear materials and that have been working with us in the field of border control. Due to its location, Azerbaijan is a critically important partner in this process." Although he did not say it directly, it is obvious that the US president was referring to the fact that Azerbaijan is located between Russia and Iran, whose nuclear ambitions have caused great concern in the world for a long time. Azerbaijan, including through substantial technical and financial assistance from the United States, as well as the exchange of relevant information, is in full control of its own air, land and sea borders, and this is a significant contribution in the context of nuclear security.

The communique issued after the summit on nuclear security in Washington says that the threat of nuclear terrorism is growing and remains one of the main challenges to international security. It stresses that "opposition to nuclear and radiological terrorism requires international cooperation, including exchange of information in accordance with the law and the procedures in force in each country". The intention to strengthen international cooperation in order to promote a more robust architecture of international nuclear security is evidenced by the following statement of the summit: "We commit ourselves to ensuring that the international situation is peaceful and stable by reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism and strengthening nuclear security."

Russia refused to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit, justifying it by the fact that at the preliminary stage, the American side did not coordinate the agenda and the documents to be adopted with Moscow. Taking into account that Russia is a major power in the world in terms of reserves of nuclear weapons and the scale of production, use and export of nuclear technology and fissile material, its refusal to participate in the summit reduces the effectiveness of the decisions made. Apparently, in solidarity with Russia, high-ranking representatives of Kazakhstan and Belarus did not go to Washington. The president of Iran was not invited to the United States either.

The participation of the Azerbaijani president in the summit and his meetings during the visit should be recognized as important and useful.

Ilham Aliyev used his visit to the US for active contacts with prominent politicians, the business community and representatives of the American public. In Washington, he met with a number of congressmen, as well as the president of Armitage International, Richard Armitage; the president of the Carnegie Endowment, William Burns; the president of Export-Import Bank, Fred Hochberg; the vice-president of the US company General Electric, John Rice; the former chief of the US presidential administration, John Sununu, the leaders of major US Jewish organizations (CPMAJO) and others.

The Azerbaijani president held fruitful meetings and talks with leading members of the current US administration: Secretary of Trade Penny Pritzker, Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden. The Azerbaijani leader noted that US-Azerbaijan relations already have a 25-year history and have reached the level of relations of strategic importance. He noted that US companies have invested more than 10bn dollars in Azerbaijan's economy. Such important projects as the construction of oil pipelines connecting the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean have been implemented with US support, and now work is under way on the Southern Gas Corridor project. President Ilham Aliyev stressed that without US support, the implementation of the project would require more time and effort. He also noted that Azerbaijan and the United States are partners in regional security, adding that "Azerbaijan provides logistical support for operations in Afghanistan and creates conditions for flights over our territory and land transportation. Also, about 100 of our soldiers serve in Afghanistan alongside NATO soldiers."

For his part, Vice President Joe Biden expressed confidence that the US government will continue to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as well as the interest in expanding cooperation between the two countries in all areas. The sides expressed satisfaction with the development of economic relations and Azerbaijan's participation in the international coalition against terrorism, particularly in Afghanistan. Joe Biden highlighted the two countries' cooperation in the field of defence and military partnership.

Against the background of the Azerbaijani leader's successful visit to the US, the presence of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Washington went almost unnoticed. Apart from the protocol conversation with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, the Armenian presidential press service did not report any important meetings. Instead, Serzh Sargsyan gave a lecture (?) at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on 30 March. It's enough to make a cat laugh. As he does not speak English, he talked the usual nonsense about Azerbaijan through an interpreter. Although it is clear that the provincial president of a country, which is a vassal outpost of Russia, has a negligible economy and is landlocked geographically, in essence, has nothing to tell American intellectuals. Indeed, he would not tell them about how he organized the genocide of Azerbaijanis in Xocali, how the occupied Azerbaijani territories were looted under his leadership, the criminal-oligarchic regime in Armenia created together with Kocharyan and other major and minor crimes.

President Ilham Aliyev's visit to the United States received favourable coverage in the US media. In his commentary, the informed and qualified expert, former US Assistant Secretary for the South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, characterized the visit of the Azerbaijani leader as significant in form and substance. This visit could open a new chapter in US-Azerbaijani relations. These relations have seen ups and downs, but overall, have been maintained at a satisfactory level. Intensive dialogue, particularly on security and energy issues, has always continued. However, there is considerable potential to raise relations to a higher, strategic level. After all, Azerbaijan is one of the few Muslim countries that have chosen the secular organization of the state and society and have taken the path of modernization, and in this sense, it needs and deserves support and a better understanding of its problems and difficulties. For its part, the exceptionally advantageous geopolitical position of Azerbaijan, which has rich resources and fairly educated and skilled people, makes this partnership between the parties mutually beneficial. Unlike many of the US "clients", Azerbaijan is not begging for financial assistance and is ready to be a partner.

Summarizing, we can say that the main result of the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to the United States to attend the Nuclear Security Summit is that it resumed dialogue with Washington and confirmed the desire of the parties to develop relations. Forecasts of some domestic and foreign enemies about the international "isolation" of Azerbaijan and the "punishment" of its leadership proved wrong.