Baku and Kyiv on Sunday condemned airstrikes by Russia on Azerbaijani energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
“During the conversation, both sides condemned the deliberate airstrikes by Russia on an oil storage facility owned by Azerbaijan’s (state oil and gas company) SOCAR in Ukraine,” said a statement by the Azerbaijani presidency following a phone call between President Ilham Aliyev and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The statement said the two leaders also condemned strikes on “other Azerbaijani facilities and a gas compressor station transporting Azerbaijani gas to Ukraine,” adding: “They emphasized their confidence that these attacks would not hinder energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also commented on the call on X, saying the two sides have made “significant achievements” in energy cooperation, and that they agreed to continue working to expand their capabilities in this regard.
“I informed (Aliyev) about Russian strikes on our energy facilities. Ukraine considers this a deliberate attempt by Russia to block the energy routes that ensure energy independence for us and other European countries,” Zelenskyy added.
On Friday, RBC-Ukraine reported that Russia struck an oil depot belonging to SOCAR in Odesa in an overnight drone attack, resulting in a fire and damaging a diesel fuel pipeline.
Earlier this month, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said another overnight Russian airstrike targeted a compressor station near the country's border with Romania, noting that "test volumes of Azerbaijani gas were already being delivered" through the station.
Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed the strike, saying it inflicted "damage on gas transportation system facilities that support the operation of enterprises of Ukraine's military-industrial complex."
Russian authorities have not immediately commented on the phone call between the Ukrainian and Azerbaijani leaders.
- Azerbaijan-Armenia peace ‘roadmap’
The statement added that the two leaders also touched on bilateral ties during their phone call, underlining the Azerbaijan-Ukraine intergovernmental commission’s meeting on economic cooperation last month in Baku.
According to Baku’s statement, Zelenskyy also congratulated his counterpart on the signing of a trilateral peace roadmap between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the US in Washington on Friday, saying Aliyev noted the deals reached at the summit will “contribute to ensuring lasting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.”
“The world has responded very positively to the trilateral meeting in Washington (between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the US). We hope everything will work,” Zelenskyy said on X about the joint declaration signed in Washington.
The declaration signed Friday between the three countries in the White House aims to end decades of conflict between Baku and Yerevan, with commitments to cease hostilities, reopen transport routes, and normalize relations.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a series of cross-border wars since the late 1980s, including since 2020 when Azerbaijan liberated its Karabakh region.
By Anadolu staff
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr