Azerbaijan Foreign Minister: ‘Never Say Never’ to Eurasian Union Membership

Azerbaijan is not dismissing the possibility of joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), but sees challenges in becoming a member, Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told Sputnik on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — According to UN international trade statistics, Russia is one of the top five importers of Azeri goods. Azerbaijan is also part of the Commonwealth of Independent States free trade zone with Russia.

"Never say never," Mammadyarov said on Wednesday when asked if his country would consider membership in the EEU.

Mammadyarov explained that Azerbaijan is focused on "building up more bilateral level cooperation" within the Eurasian bloc.

The EEU is an integrated trade zone including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

The inclusion of Armenia in the EEC presents "one extremely serious obstacle" for Azerbaijan’s membership, Mammadyarov noted.

"It is not an easy job to say yes or no [to membership]," he stated, adding "there are a lot of ‘ifs’."