Russia is not worried about part of its southern borders, where its partner is Azerbaijan, says Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin.
"The special value of our relations with Azerbaijan is their predictability. There will be no unpleasant surprises for us and it is very much important in the current difficult international situation," the Russian diplomat stresses.
Dorokhin points out the "good commodity turnover" between Russia and Azerbaijan and stresses that the key cooperation is going on in the military-technical area, not in the oil sector. In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, the ambassador says that Azerbaijan is one of the leading partners of Russia in the military and technical area.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2010-2014 the military hardware import of Azerbaijan grew by 249% as compared to 2005-2009. In 2015, Baku allocated 18% (up to 5 bln USD) of its budget funds for the defense sector. 85% of the Azerbaijani import of weapons is from Russia, which has already supplied Baku with strike weapons worth $4-5 bln.