Exclusive: Azerbaijan courts U.S. help on landmines

Driving the news: Axios spoke with Ibrahim around the one-year anniversary of the U.S.-brokered peace declaration between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

• Our conversation also came months after Washington and Baku inked a partnership charter that, among other things, recognized the latter's "serious challenges" with landmines and pledged future financial support.

What they're saying: "Azerbaijan is, if you look at per-capita, one of the most landmine-contaminated countries in the world," Ibrahim said.

• "There are many, many, many technological advances in the world that can help," he said. "We hope we can work with the United States also on this issue."

Friction point: Clearing land is expensive, time-consuming and dangerous. Countless mines are in the ground around the world.

Zoom in: The Marshall Legacy Institute has since 2005 donated more than 90 mine-detection dogs to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action.

• "One of the critical things is actually having correct mapping," Ibrahim said.

Zoom out: Azerbaijan has sought closer ties with the U.S. post-peace pact and post-partnership agreement in everything from artificial intelligence to energy. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was named a founding member of President Trump's peace board.

• "The good thing about the current U.S. administration," Ibrahim said, "is that whatever you agree upon, you immediately start working on."

Go deeper: Azerbaijan wants "official explanation" from Iran after drone attack