President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in Astrakhan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said:

- Dear Ilham Heydar oglu!

Dear colleagues!

It gives me great pleasure to meet with representatives of the Azerbaijani delegation on the sidelines of the summit of Caspian littoral states. The relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have always evolved in the spirit of friendship and mutual trust. We are very pleased that our relationships have developed in the same manner in different directions, including the most sensitive areas. In the economy too, there is progress despite some problems in the global and indeed Russian economy. After all, we are registering a slight growth in our trade, albeit quite small, but it is still a gain – over 2 per cent. So we always welcome the opportunity to meet, talk and to discuss all of our bilateral issues.

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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the successful completion of the summit, which, according to our overall assessment, has been a breakthrough – some very important decisions have been made in terms of convergence of the parties' positions. These decisions will play an important role in the further cooperation in the Caspian region. With regard to our bilateral relations, I am pleased that we maintain a constant dialogue. We met last month and we are meeting today.

This is an indicator of the level of our relations. Over this time delegations from our countries have also been visiting each other. In all directions we have very good dynamics in the economic sphere, in the political sphere, in energy, in matters relating to humanitarian cooperation. In just a few days we will hold the humanitarian forum, which was initiated by Russian and Azerbaijani representatives. So there is positive momentum on all fronts. Therefore, we are very pleased. I think that in the future we will also observe good moments in the interaction between our countries. Thank you again for your hospitality.