Baku, August 19, AZERTAC

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

Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I sincerely welcome you once again to Azerbaijan. You are welcome! Our meetings are of regular nature. We have already met twice this year, and we continue our communication today within the framework of your state visit. As a matter of fact, we started 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. This is why 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 was agreed between you and I long ago, and I am very happy to be visiting Baku and once again admire this city, the development of which you and, I know this firsthand, your wife have been paying great attention to. It is quite visible. The city is developing, it is developing successfully, turning into, I would say, an oasis in the region, of course.

Our relations are developing on the basis of the declaration 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 the potential of our capabilities. 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. More than 1,270 enterprises 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, 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 this work.

Of course, we already touched upon this topic yesterday and will continue it today – it concerns the settlement of the situation in the South Caucasus.

It is clear and well known that Russia is also facing crises, including and first of all, of course, in the Ukrainian direction. But Russia's historical involvement in the situation in the South Caucasus, even over the past few years, makes it necessary for us to participate 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 tell him about the results of our negotiations.

I know that Azerbaijan aims to complete all procedures related to the full settlement. 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 useful discussion and, as I can tell by the situation in 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.