Interaction Russia and Azerbaijan in the Caspian Region: Opportunities, Barriers, Priorities

The collapse of the USSR and the independence of the former Soviet republics radically changed the geopolitical picture of the Eurasian space, triggered powerful disintegration and integration processes in the economic and humanitarian spheres, and actualized the search for new formats and incentives for the post-Soviet states to build and restore their (already interstate, on a realistic and pragmatic basis) interaction. The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, having passed through a complex trajectory of bilateral relations over the past three decades, are now increasingly experiencing the need for dynamic, multidimensional development of mutual relations, including in the contour of the coasts and waters of the Caspian Sea, with its energy, transport, logistics, and tourism and recreation potential only partially realized. The article analyzes the main parameters and priority directions
of the geostrategic "presence" of Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea in the post-Soviet period, shows the opportunities and barriers of Azerbaijani-Russian cooperation in the Caspian region in the context of the general (initiated by geo-economic and geopolitical changes in Eurasia) growth of marine economic activity.