Russian president begins 2-day state visit to Azerbaijan

BAKU

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) is greeted by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) upon his arrival in Baku on August 18, 2024

 Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on Sunday for a two-day state visit, TASS news agency reported.

Putin's talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are expected to focus on the current state of and prospects for the further development of bilateral ties, as well as pressing issues on the international and regional agenda.

"The presidents will exchange views on topical issues of regional and international politics, in particular the Azerbaijani-Armenian settlement," the Kremlin press service earlier said in a statement.

The Russian side reaffirms its willingness to continue contributing to the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, it said.

"The key tasks remain the signing of a peace treaty, the promotion of the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, the unblocking of transport, logistics and economic ties in the region on the basis of the trilateral agreements reached at the highest level in 2020-2022," the readout said.