Ilham Aliyev and President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a meeting in an expanded format with the participation of delegations

After the one-on-one meeting, President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting in an expanded format with the participation of delegations.

Welcoming the guests, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear guests! I want to heartily welcome you to Azerbaijan again. You are welcome! We attach great importance to your visit and have already exchanged views on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.

The agenda of our relations is quite extensive. Our cooperation is multifaceted and diverse. It covers almost all areas – the issues of economic cooperation, the humanitarian sphere, transport, regional security issues, etc. And we have similar positions on all the issues. Of course, another opportunity to discuss important issues of bilateral relations and regional policy with you is very important. I am very glad that you are accompanied by a large delegation. The composition of the delegation shows the areas to which we attach great importance. I am sure that this visit will contribute to further development of friendly relations between our countries in all areas and bring our states and peoples closer together.

Welcome again!

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said:

- Thank you very much, dear Ilham Heydar oglu. Thank you for the invitation and for the attention you are constantly paying to the development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Let me say a few words about the most important thing perhaps, the humanitarian component. When meeting in a narrow format, we paid due attention to this matter, and I would like to note once again that Azerbaijan has a careful attitude towards the development of the Russian language, preservation of education and joint work together in this area. There are schools working with the Russian language and Russian branches of universities here. This is extremely important because it provides the basis for work in all other directions.

In all other directions our relationships are on a rising trend. We have also noted that despite the difficulties in the global economy, our trade is growing. Last year it grew by nearly 50 per cent – by more than 47 per cent. This is a very good indicator of our cooperation capacity. Indeed, the Russian delegation includes many ministers from our key ministries and departments. I do hope that using this broad format we will exchange opinions about what we need to do to intensify our cooperation, and I am sure it will be helpful and useful work for the future. Thank you very much.