If president Putin wins in Ukraine, it is not only a challenge for  Ukrainians, but also for Azerbaijan and NATO allies - NATO Sec Gen 

ArmInfo.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was on an official visit to Azerbaijan,  was interviewed by Azerbaijan State News Agency - AZERTAC on March 18. 

Below are some excerpts from the interview. 

"In Caucasus, we have several important NATO partners. So, the  Caucasus is important to NATO because it matters for Euro-Atlantic  security and NATO is eager for the further development of partnership  with the countries in the Caucasus. Of course, Georgia is in a  special position because Georgia has applied for NATO membership. And  NATO has also stated several times that Georgia will become a NATO  member.  Of course, the Caucasus is also close, to not so far from at  least Ukraine where there is full-fledged war of aggression by Russia  that matters for the whole of Europe. It matters for Caucasus. And if  president Putin wins in Ukraine. it is not only a challenge for  Ukrainians, it is also dangerous for all of us, including Azerbaijan  and NATO allies. Because, the message to President Putin is when you  use military forces he gets what he wants. So, he will then see that  blatant violation of international law, invading another country will  pay off and that will reduce the threshold for any future use of  force. Therefore, it is in our interest, in the interest of NATO  allies as well as Azerbaijan and many other countries around the  world to prevent President Putin from winning," Stoltenberg said. 

As to the rapprochement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mr  Stoltenberg said: 

"For us, it is very important that there is a lasting peace  settlement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and I welcome the message  from President Aliyev yesterday, when we had a dinner and at a press  conference and meeting, where he stated very clearly that you are now  closer to a peace agreement than ever before. There are some  remaining issues that have to be solved, but I really hope that both  parties, both Azerbaijan and Armenia, seize this opportunity to find  and to agree a peace agreement, to establish the conditions for a  lasting peace because peace and stability in this region is of  course, very important for the people who live in this region. It's  important for creating the conditions and framework for investments  for prosperity.  Because we know that peace and stability is  precondition for any economic development and economic growth. Peace  and stability in this region matters for international peace and  security. So it is in the interest of NATO allies to have lasting  peace. So therefore, I strongly believe that everything should be  done to ensure lasting peace and security."

In the context of energy security, the NATO Secretary General said: 

"Azerbaijan is important for NATO because we have the practical  partnership and political dialogue but, of course, Azerbaijan is also  important for NATO because of energy security and especially since  Russia has started to really use gas as a tool to try to coerce NATO  allies of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was extremely  important for NATO allies in Europe to wean off Russian gas, and  increased deliveries from Azerbaijan have enabled NATO allies in  Europe to be independent of Russia as a gas supplier. And that was a  very fast and quick process that actually went quite well, given the  very difficult circumstances.  There is a demand now for further  increasing the gas export from roughly 12 billion cubic meters to 20,  which is a significant part of Europe`s gas consumption, and for some  allies, gas from Azerbaijan is very important. I also welcome that  work has started now not only on providing natural gas, but also  exporting power through electric cable and direct export from  Azerbaijan of power will further increase the importance of  Azerbaijan as an energy supplier to Europe, to NATO allies in Europe.  This is also part of the efforts of Azerbaijan to develop renewable  sources of energy, wind power, offshore wind but also solar power.  And by doing so, Azerbaijan has become a part of the big energy  transition, which has to take place if we are going to be able to  fight the climate change. In that context, of course, it is also very  important that Azerbaijan is playing an important role in hosting  COP-29, the big climate conference in November this year. I really  believe and hope that COP29 here in Baku will provide us with a  platform we need as an international community to make important  decisions on many issues related to fighting global warming or  climate change, not least climate financing, to finance big  investments, we need to conduct the big energy transition." 

As regards various projects have been undertaken to align the  Azerbaijan Armed Forces with NATO standards, Mr Stoltenberg said: 

"Yes absolutely, we are now in the process of agreeing a new  framework for partnership between NATO and Azerbaijan and that  framework will focus on the issues like inter-operability which  exactly how to ensure that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan can work  together to meet NATO standards, and are fully inter- operable with  NATO forces. We will also focus on, for instance, military education,  which will also increase interoperability between our forces. We will  look into other areas where we can further deepen our cooperation and  all of these will bring Azerbaijani and NATO forces closer to each  other which I think will be of mutual benefit both for Azerbaijan and  NATO allies."