Zelenskyy Visits Azerbaijan for Talks with Aliyev

(MENAFN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held high-stakes talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday in the northern city of Gabala, during a working visit to the South Caucasus nation aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation across security, energy, and humanitarian fronts.

"Important negotiations. Mutual respect and cooperation that strengthen both our nations," Zelenskyy wrote on X, the US social media platform, alongside a photograph of the two leaders shaking hands.

Zelenskyy said his visit opened with a briefing from a specialist team "which is sharing Ukraine's experience in protecting the skies" — signaling Kyiv's ambition to export its hard-won air defense knowledge to willing partners.

"Ukraine is always committed to cooperation that strengthens both our partners and us. We have unique security expertise that can benefit other nations," he said, outlining three strategic corridors driving Kyiv's outreach: the Middle East and Gulf region, the European Union, and Azerbaijan specifically.

"In addition to security, we will work today to strengthen cooperation in energy, the economy and the humanitarian track," Zelenskyy added.

The Azerbaijani presidential press service confirmed the two leaders held a private one-on-one session before convening an expanded meeting involving both nations' delegations.
The Gabala visit followed Zelenskyy's stop in Saudi Arabia, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, continuing a regional diplomatic push.

Zelenskyy disclosed on X that a "strategic security arrangement" between Ukraine and Azerbaijan is being "actively" developed, spanning Ukrainian air defense exports, energy cooperation, and food security — three pillars Kyiv is increasingly leveraging as tools of wartime diplomacy.

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