The president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was in Russia earlier today (22 February), to meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
As part of the meeting, Putin and Aliyev signed the "Declaration on Allied Interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation”, which covers a spectrum of issues, ranging from trade to bilateral cooperation in politics and humanitarian issues.
Putin welcomed Aliyev, noting that this visit was taking place on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two countries. The Russian president noted the successful development of Azerbaijani-Russian relations, citing the 16% increase in trade turnover last year as an example of the ties they shared.
Discussing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Putin said that while there were still ongoing issues, Russia supported the resolution of these problems, including those relating to transport communications.
For his part, Aliyev said that the signing of the "Declaration on Allied Relations" was a good illustration of how hard both sides had worked to increase the potential for mutual cooperation, adding that the agreement would be of “great importance for the future of our bilateral relations”.
The Azerbaijani president also stated that relations between Russia and Azerbaijan were reaching their highest level. In particular, he pointed to trade between the two countries, close economic ties, and the bond created by the teaching of Russian in Azerbaijani schools and universities.
He went on to thank Russia for its role in stopping the 44-day war, and for its efforts to maintain peace since. Finally, he noted that Azerbaijan shared Russia’s goals of normalising relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and in the opening of transport communications.