Ilham Aliyev: President Trump brings energy trend back to normality

The importance of Baku Energy Week is also reflected in the kind letter from US President Donald Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated at the official opening ceremony of the 31st Baku Energy Forum, Report informs.

"This once again demonstrates that Baku Energy Week really is one of the leading events in the global energy arena. I'm very grateful to President Trump for his kind message and also very grateful to President Erdoğan of Türkiye and UK Prime Minister Starmer for their messages to the event.

President Trump deserves additional gratitude for bringing the energy trend back to normality. As we all know, for many years countries and companies involved in oil and gas production have been demonized and sometimes blackmailed, accused of ruining the planet, and without any grounds, cornered in public opinion.

President Trump changed that trend, and that was a really remarkable event because we all know that some of the big oil companies even changed their names to be in line with so-called modern trends. But the reality is absolutely different. The world cannot live without fossil fuels. We all want to have a better climate and save the planet. We all want to live in a better environment. But today we must be very pragmatic and, based on realism, plan our future with respect to energy security while also investing in renewables. I think this is the way to move forward.

So I think that what is happening now in the global energy arena was really generated by the very wise and pragmatic policy of the US President. And once again, we are all very grateful to him. Countries should not be blamed for having oil and gas because oil and gas are commodities like any other. And every country uses what it has under its soil or on the seabed in order to develop. And that was the case for Azerbaijan in the beginning of our independence. Oil and gas were the only way for us to survive as an independent country. So countries should be judged not by whether they have oil or not, but by how they use the revenues, how they invest the funds they accumulate from energy development to develop their countries, provide better living conditions for their people, and invest in green agenda issues. And I think the example of Azerbaijan can be very illustrative. It can demonstrate that when you open your country to international investment and conduct a wise policy based on national interests, you achieve success," President Ilham Aliyev noted.