Ukrainian and Azerbaijani energy ministers meet in Uzhhorod for bilateral talks

Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal met his Azerbaijani counterpart Parviz Shahbazov in the western city of Uzhhorod on Nov. 5, as an Azerbaijani government delegation arrived for bilateral talks.

Shmyhal said the visiting delegation includes government officials alongside representatives of Azerbaijani businesses. The two sides plan to convene a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, to be followed by bilateral negotiations involving business representatives from both countries.

"We look forward to productive negotiations and substantial results that will strengthen our energy cooperation," Shmyhal said on social media.

Kyiv has kept up good relations with Baku throughout the all-out war. Azerbaijan has supplied humanitarian and economic aid and has assisted Ukraine's reconstruction efforts, particularly in the energy sector.

The talks build on a diplomatic opening earlier in the year. In April, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Azerbaijan for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Gabala, where the two sides signed six agreements to expand bilateral cooperation.

Azerbaijan has at the same time maintained a close partnership with Russia, though ties deteriorated after Russian air defenses downed an Azerbaijani airliner in December 2024. Since then, Moscow has sought to repair relations with Baku, pledging a thorough investigation and compensation for the crash that killed 38 people.