Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia held limited-format meeting

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held a limited-format meeting with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

At the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I sincerely welcome you once again to Azerbaijan. Welcome! Our meetings are frequent. This year, we have already met twice, and we continue our communication today within the framework of your state visit. In fact, we began yesterday with a thorough exchange of views on important issues related to both the bilateral agenda and regional security. Today, we will continue our discussions in both limited and expanded formats.

I would like to emphasize that we are very pleased with the level of interaction between our countries. The Declaration on Allied Interaction signed between us in February 2022 is being successfully implemented. In both the political and economic spheres, we are observing very positive momentum and good performance indicators. Of course, we cooperate in the energy and transportation sectors. We attach special importance to humanitarian cooperation and also collaborate in many other areas. For this reason, we will review the agenda in detail again today. I am sure that this visit will be both pleasant for you and beneficial for our relations.

You are welcome again.

President Vladimir Putin said:

- Thank you very much, Mr. Ilham Heydarovich!

First of all, thank you for the invitation. This visit has been planned between us for some time, and I am very happy to be visiting Baku and once again to admire this city, the development of which you and, I know this firsthand, your spouse, have been paying enormous attention to. It is evident. The city is developing, it is developing successfully, turning into, I would say, an oasis in the region.

Our relations are developing based on the declaration that you and I signed back in early 2022. It is being successfully implemented, and a good impetus for the development of our bilateral relations was provided during your visit to Moscow in April this year.

Our trade and economic relations are developing successfully. I agree with you, you told me at our previous meeting in Russia that a little over four billion dollars is a good figure, but it does not fully reflect our potential. Indeed, we can talk not only about energy here but also about industrial cooperation, transportation, logistics, and light industry. We have many areas for joint collaboration.

More than four billion dollars of direct investment in the Azerbaijani economy is also a positive indicator. There are more than 1,270 entities with Russian capital are operating in Azerbaijan, and this number is certainly not the limit.

Regarding humanitarian ties, we attach great importance to them and are grateful to you for the attention you have paid to the development of the Russian language. There are 300 schools with the Russian-language education, branches of our leading higher educational institutions operate in Azerbaijan. Thousands of young people from Azerbaijan study in leading universities of the Russian Federation, and we are ready to expand this interaction.

An intergovernmental commission is also in operation. Just recently – 10 days ago, I believe – a regular meeting of the intergovernmental commission was held here in Baku. It is operating successfully.

By the way, I am aware that the Days of Russian Culture were held in Azerbaijan in June this year. Thank you very much for organizing it. Of course, we already touched upon this topic yesterday and will continue it today – it concerns the resolution of the situation in the South Caucasus.

It is clear and well known that Russia is also facing crises, first and foremost, in the Ukrainian direction. But Russia's historical involvement in the situation in the South Caucasus, even over the past few years, calls for our involvement in these developments – of course, to the extent that it is required by the parties, there is no doubt about that.

If we can do something to achieve the signing of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, to bring the matter to the delimitation and demarcation of the border, to unblock, as we have discussed many times, the relevant areas in logistics and economy - we would be very happy about that.

Of course, after my visit to Azerbaijan, I will contact Prime Minister Pashinyan and inform him about the results of our negotiations.

I know that Azerbaijan aims to complete all procedures related to the complete resolution. I am well aware of that. We will talk about that.

In general, I would like to thank you again for the invitation. I am sure it will be a very productive discussion and, as I can tell by the atmosphere around the city, quite favorable. We love Baku. It is a beautiful city and, most importantly, it is developing in a way that many other major population centers would envy.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.