Baku would be a relevant venue for a meeting between the US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is expected to be held in June, said Ahmad Alili, Azerbaijani political expert.

According to article published in Politico, the well-known information agency, leaders of the US and Russia Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin would meet in Vienna or Helsinki, and at the same time it is noted in article that Biden and Putin would come together in Reykjavik, Prague or Ljubljana - capitals of Iceland, Czech Republic and Slovenia, even in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.

Some US analysts pointed out that Baku would be a suitable area for Biden-Putin talks, because Baku has solid diplomatic relations with both Washington and Moscow. But, odds are low that Biden agrees to meet with Putin in Baku.

Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Ahmad Alili, the head of Caucasus Political Centre, said that Azerbaijan has strong experience in hosting a number of diplomatic meetings among major powers.  

“In the past, the government of Azerbaijan made great efforts to organize or host the bilateral meetings and negotiations for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey. It continues to carry out a lot of works in this direction. At the same time, it is noted in world media that Baku can do such actions for improving relations between Turkey and Israel,” Alili said.

“As a venue for a meeting between the US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Baku has hosted a number of bilateral meetings between NATO and Russia's top military officials. It indicates that military officials and political leaders of both great powers see Baku as a neutral area. They are again ready to hold meetings in Baku,” he added.

Expert considered that Baku is able to take responsibility to host a meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

“Baku would be a relevant venue for a meeting between Biden and Putin, which is expected to be held in June,” he stressed.

Touching upon the reaction of Armenian lobby to the Biden-Putin talks in Baku, if it is possible, Alili noted that Washington decided last week to continue the waiver of the 907 section of Freedom Act, and it is interested in diversified relations with Azerbaijan.

“In last week the Biden administration decided to continue the waiver of the 907 section of the Freedom Act. As well Washington is interested in maintaining relations with Azerbaijan in terms of military and other fields,” he said.

He also underscored that Washington has already put the reasonability for the last solution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the shoulders of OSCE Minsk Group.

“Washington, even Moscow say Armenian lobby the solution of Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict depends on the OSCE Minsk Group, and they are keeping their attention on dealing with important global problems among them,” he added. 

by Yunis Abdullayev