On March 15, 2023, in the administrative building of the Ministry of Emergencies, the Minister of Emergencies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General Kamaladdin Heydarov, met with Brigadier General Edward Vaughan, Deputy Director for Partnership, Security and Policy Opportunities of the United States European Command, who is visiting our country.

APA reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released information about this.

It was reported that minister Kamaladdin Heydarov, who greeted the guest sincerely, expressed his satisfaction with the current level of relations between the relevant emergency response agencies of both countries.

Emphasizing that there are good opportunities for expanding inter-agency relations, including cooperation in the field of civil defense, the minister spoke about the importance of mutual visits and training.

In this context, the minister, who thanked the US Defense Agency for Threat Reduction for the provision of equipment and training to the Civil Defense Forces of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the importance of discussions between the two institutions in order to determine future bilateral cooperation prospects in priority areas.

Touching on the issues of nuclear safety, Minister K. Heydarov spoke about the great nuclear threat posed by the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia, which operates with old technology and has serious technical problems, for the entire region.

Also, the minister gave detailed information about the activities of the MFA's flexible rescue forces sent to the brotherly country by the order of the President of Azerbaijan in order to eliminate the consequences of the strong earthquake that occurred in Turkey on February 6 and to support the search and rescue operations, and shared the experiences gained.

Thanking for the cordial meeting, Brigadier General Edward Vaughan emphasized that the development of relations between the relevant agencies of the two countries in the fight against emergency situations is mutually beneficial.

In this context, the guest shared his views on the prospects of expanding cooperation between the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan.

The guest thanked Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov for sharing the experience gained by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan in dealing with the consequences of the devastating earthquake that occurred in Turkey.

In addition, E. Vaughan noted that they are interested in expanding the cooperation between the relevant institutions for combating oil spills at sea.

Other issues of mutual interest were widely discussed at the meeting.