The Interparliamentary Cooperation Commission met to discuss the preservation of historical memory of the Great Patriotic War and the further development of bilateral energy cooperation.
The Federation Council hosted the 23rd meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was co-chaired by First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrey Yatskin and First Deputy Speaker of the Milli Mejlis Ali Ahmadov.
Andrey Yatskin conveyed greetings from Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko to the meeting participants.
He spoke about the great potential of interparliamentary dialogue for providing legislative support to bilateral cooperation. “Members of the Russian and Azerbaijani parliaments maintain regular contacts and work together at multilateral platforms and within election observation missions,” he said.
The Snator pointed out that the commission met at the end of 2025, which the CIS countries declared the Year of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War – the Year of Peace and Unity in the fight against Nazism. “Our countries hold sacred the memory of those who stood up to defend their homeland in the difficult war years and routed fascism, and the memory of those who worked for victory on the home front,” he stated.
Andrey Yatskin added that Russia and Azerbaijan are working together to preserve historical memory and prevent its falsification. The two countries’ leaders firmly condemn all attempts to rewrite history and distort the truth about the Great Patriotic War.
The meeting participants also discussed bilateral energy cooperation. Andrey Yatskin said that the existing projects serve as a reliable foundation for the further development of cooperation in this sphere. He expressed confidence that their implementation will provide a powerful impetus to the development of interregional ties.
Ali Ahmadov noted that Azerbaijan and Russia are bound by long-standing ties of friendship and collaboration, emphasising the importance of deepening interparliamentary ties as a factor in the further development of bilateral cooperation on a broad range of issues of mutual interest.
“The people of Azerbaijan made a significant contribution to the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War,” Ali Ahmadov noted. Nearly 700,000 residents of Azerbaijan fought on the frontline, over half of them did not return home, and 130 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin mentioned the successful development of bilateral cooperation in trade and the economy.
According to First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Ivan Abramov, cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan is a strategic pillar of stability in the region. “Over the past few years, we have achieved substantial results based on intergovernmental agreements, and we see good prospects for the future,” he said.
The meeting was attended by senators Iliyas Umakhanov, Galina Karelova, Vladimir Gorodetsky and Evgenia Lamonova, State Duma deputies, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Minister of Energy Roman Marshavin, Head of the National Centre for Historical Memory under the President of the Russian Federation Yelena Malysheva, and members of the Azerbaijani parliament.
The 24th meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation will take place in Baku in the second quarter of 2026.