On July 19, 2022, 18th meeting of the Azerbaijan-European Union Cooperation Council was held under the co-chairmanship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

During the meeting, discussions were held on Azerbaijan-EU relations, especially the current state of the comprehensive agreement being negotiated between Azerbaijan and the European Union. Both sides confirmed that they are in favor of concluding this agreement in a short period of time.

Then, various aspects of relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union, sectoral cooperation, including energy, transport, environment, economy, trade, people-to-people relations, social issues, as well as communication issues were discussed. In particular, the European Union drew attention to the important role that Azerbaijan plays in the energy security of Europe. It was noted that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner, and in this regard, the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the President of the European Commission on July 18 was emphasized. European Union stated that Azerbaijan's natural gas contributes to supply security and price stability. At the same time, prospects for developing cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union on multilateral platforms and, in this context, cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and ways to improve the Eastern Partnership were discussed.

As another agenda item, regional issues were focused on. In this regard, a wide discussion was held about the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov drew attention to the current state of the normalization process, the approach and vision demonstrated by Azerbaijan. It was noted that Azerbaijan is a supporter of a systematic and structured approach to the process of signing of the peace agreement. The position of Azerbaijan in the field of border delimitation, opening of communications, as well as implementation of confidence-building measures between Azerbaijan and Armenia was brought to attention.

In particular, the Minister gave information about post-conflict reconstruction works. He emphasized that the significant date of the current meeting coincided with the first return of IDPs, expelled from their homes, to the village of Aghali in Zangilan district. In the context of post-conflict reconstruction and restoration works, Minister also paid attention to the issues of mass contamination of Azerbaijani territories with landmines, and brought to the attention of his counterparts that this is a serious obstacle to the soonest return of IDPs, and is the cause of the death and injury of Azerbaijani civilians as a result of explosions that occur on a regular basis. It was noted that assistance and cooperation in the field of demining territories is important for Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, information was provided on other issues of the Azerbaijan-European Union agenda, including cooperation in the field of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and the steps taken by Azerbaijan and reforms implemented in this direction, as well as an exchange of views took place on other regional issues on the agenda.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, made press statements.