President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the U.S. President for International Climate Policy.
John Podesta expressed his gratitude to the head of state for the reception, highlighting the productive and meaningful discussions with Azerbaijani counterparts regarding COP29. He expressed satisfaction with the opportunity to exchange views on COP29 with the Azerbaijani President. Podesta praised Azerbaijani team’s high level of professionalism in preparing for the event, despite COP29 Presidency’s limited preparation time. Podesta stressed the importance of reaching significant decisions at the upcoming summit, particularly on Biennial Transparency Reports and a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.
President Ilham Aliyev welcomed the strong cooperation between Podesta and the Azerbaijani side. He emphasized the significance of COP29 and expressed confidence that the event would yield positive results. The head of state noted that despite having less than a year to prepare, Azerbaijan is making significant efforts to ensure the conference is well-organized and that consensus is achieved among participating nations. He underlined that the Azerbaijani COP29 Presidency is working to build bridges among countries, and expressed optimism that Azerbaijan’s memberships in various international institutions and its close relationships with other nations would help foster consensus at COP29.
The discussion underscored the good cooperation between the Azerbaijani and U.S. COP delegations. They highlighted the importance of the pre-COP event in Baku and upcoming discussions for shaping the agenda for COP29.
John Podesta reaffirmed U.S. support for the regional peace agenda.
President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan had initiated the peace agreement with Armenia following the 44-day Patriotic War, based on five fundamental principles, and reiterated the country’s commitment to the regional peace agenda.
The meeting also dealt with bilateral issues between Azerbaijan and the United States.