The quantity of oil shipped through Azerbaijan, Georgia and on to Turkey and further into the Mediterranean market declined to 1.7 million tonnes in January to June this year.

The EBRD predicted that growth in the South Caucasus and Central Asia in 2021 would be stronger than it initially expected, though it warned a slow pace of vaccinations left the recovery vulnerable to an autumn COVID-19 wave.

Both leaders welcomed heightened ties with the EU. Baku said it invited the bloc to help with the post-war reconstruction of Azerbaijani lands looted and systematically destroyed during the Armenian occupation.