Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the president’s official residence in Baku on Monday, holding both a one-on-one meeting and an expanded session with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jihon Bayramov and Economy Minister Mikhail Jabbarov.
The talks focused on advancing bilateral relations, with an emphasis on deepening cooperation in energy, artificial intelligence, agriculture, water management, defense, and tourism. Sa’ar said the large business and economic delegation accompanying his visit is expected to further strengthen ties in these and other sectors.
Azerbaijan is reportedly interested in Israeli agri-tech as it rehabilitates the recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Sa’ar also invited Aliyev to visit Israel and thanked him for his support of Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
As part of his visit, Sa’ar will also meet with leaders of the local Jewish community. An estimated 16,000-30,000 Jews live in Azerbaijan.
Gideon Sa'ar to meet with Kazakh leaders
The second leg of the trip will take Sa’ar to Astana, where he will hold meetings with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Foreign Minister Yermak Kusharbayev, and other senior officials. The visit comes amid Kazakhstan’s November accession to the Abraham Accords, which Israel views as an opportunity to expand diplomatic and economic cooperation. While in Kazakhstan, Sa’ar will also meet Jewish community leaders and take part in an event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Joining the minister is a senior business and economic delegation of more than 40 Israeli business leaders and representatives of government bodies. The delegation includes figures from the water and agriculture sectors, the cyber and engineering industries, finance, health, and other fields.