Azerbaijan omits Ukraine drone deal from readout of Zelensky meeting

Ukraine and Azerbaijan gave contrasting accounts of the 12 November meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Ilham Aliyev in Dublin, with Kyiv announcing signed drone contracts that Baku's readout did not mention.

Zelensky's office placed the bilateral "Drone Deal" first in its account of the talks. "Contracts have been signed, and the countries are working to scale up orders," it said.

Azerbaijan's presidential readout, published the same day, made no reference to the drone contracts or to any bilateral defence cooperation. It focused instead on trade, private-sector ties, humanitarian assistance and Kyiv's interest in Azerbaijan's reconstruction efforts in Karabakh and East Zangezur.

Neither government disclosed the financial value of the contracts, the specific systems involved or a timeline for expanding orders.

Zelensky also urged Baku to help protect Ukraine's critical infrastructure against Russian attacks. He said he would appreciate it if Azerbaijan could "find a way to support Ukraine's critical infrastructure and logistics ahead of winter."

The defence cooperation was first discussed during Zelensky's 25 April visit to Gabala, Azerbaijan, where the two presidents signed six bilateral agreements, including on defence-industrial cooperation and joint production. On 6 August, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov made his first visit to Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, discussing implementation of the Drone Deal alongside energy and economic cooperation.

Azerbaijan's public silence on its defence deals with Kyiv comes weeks after Moscow announced new military-technical cooperation with Baku. On 1 November, Dmitry Shugayev, head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told the Russian defence ministry's Zvezda television channel that the two sides had signed a programme to build and modernise facilities for repairing armoured vehicles used by Azerbaijan's military. He also raised the possibility of selling Russian Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile and gun systems to Baku; no purchase agreement has been announced.

On 30 September, Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov met a Russian delegation led by Deputy Defence Minister Vasily Osmakov in Baku to discuss expanding military-technical cooperation.

Baku has also signalled it wants to revive energy ties with Moscow. At Russian Energy Week in Moscow on 16 October, SOCAR vice president Elshad Nasirov said Azerbaijan wanted to resume purchasing natural gas from Gazprom. He stated that their cooperation with Gazprom was "a very good example" of which they could be proud, according to Russia's state-run TASS news agency.

The move raises questions about Azerbaijan's role as an alternative gas supplier to Europe as the EU works to phase out Russian fossil fuels.