Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan agreed a common energy export strategy that could help unlock new pipeline routes from the Caspian region, easing European dependence on Russian supplies. The EU and US have urged Turkmenistan to join the planned Nabucco pipeline project to move gas across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

"Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are rich in hydrocarbon resources and share a common view about diversifying energy export routes to the world market," Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, said after a meeting on Friday with Ilham Aliev, the leader of Azerbaijan, in Turkmenbashi, an oil town on the Caspian Sea.