Aliyev, Putin discuss strategic cooperation in expanded bilateral talks

Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin respectively held an expanded meeting in Baku to further discuss and strengthen bilateral relations between their countries.

President Ilham Aliyev opened the meeting, expressing a warm welcome to his Russian counterpart, Caliber.Az reports via the official news agency Azertac.

"Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear members of the delegation! I sincerely welcome you once again to Azerbaijan. Yesterday and today, we have reviewed the bilateral agenda. We discussed several important issues of our cooperation and will now continue our work in an expanded format.

“First of all, I would like to greet you once again. This is not your first visit to Azerbaijan, but it is your first state visit, and this visit is of exceptional importance for our bilateral relations.

“We have already exchanged views and expressed satisfaction with the development of relations between our countries – relations between friends, neighbors, and allies. We are witnessing positive momentum in all areas. The composition of our delegations is also very illustrative and speaks for itself. In other words, there are indeed quite a few topics for discussion of cooperation, and the scope of our mutual activities is expanding year by year.

“We are committed to strengthening our cooperation in all areas, and I am confident that your visit will be another important step in bringing our countries and peoples even closer together."

President Vladimir Putin responded, highlighting the significance of the meeting and the comprehensive nature of the discussions:

"Thank you very much for the invitation. As you have already noted, we have a very large delegation – and this is the case from both sides. The Russian government is here almost in full.

“We have already mentioned and recalled that just recently, 10 days ago, a meeting of the intergovernmental commission was held, and it noted the development of our relations – in fact, it didn’t just note it but indicated that we are fully implementing our agreements, which were spelled out in the relevant declaration of 2022 and are in accordance with the agreements reached during your visit in April of this year.

“Working in such a broad composition makes it possible to lay out steps for the near future. We have now managed, although it is called ‘in a limited format,’ to go over several absolute priority issues. We still have to sign the relevant documents, and our colleagues had the opportunity - both yesterday evening, just as we did, in an informal setting, and today during the day – to communicate with each other and outline steps for the near future."