On September 16, President Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.
Speaking at the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "As for bilateral relations, they are developing. In fact, they are developing very successfully, of course. The volume of trade and investment is also growing. Cooperation is carried out through various ministries, departments, and parliaments."
"Of course, we are all very worried about the aggravation of the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border today. We talked about this. As you know, I informed you about it, I spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last night. It is good that the escalation was finally stopped through a coordinated effort. However, as far as I understand, it remains tense," he added.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said: "Less than three months have passed since our last meeting, but we have been in constant contact all this time, talking on the phone. We are also seeing very positive momentum in bilateral relations."
"After the signing of the Declaration on allied interaction, important documents were signed on other sectors as well. In general, as you noted, we are observing growth in the turnover and the volume of cargo transportation. Also, we now intend to engage our transit capabilities fully. So, the results are obvious. I am sure that we will finish this year with good results in all areas. I would also like to express my gratitude for your prompt response to the aggravation and escalation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The clashes lasted less than eight hours and have now stopped – although the Armenian side did not immediately begin to implement the ceasefire. In general, the ceasefire has been observed for about two days. Border conflicts happen, but the main thing is that we have managed to stabilize the situation and introduce peaceful conditions," the President stated.
"According to the information I am now receiving from the ground, as I said, the situation has been stable for about two days. The main thing now is not to disrupt the beginning process of normalization of relations but to start moving in this direction. We are welcoming the efforts of Russia towards this, including those made within the framework of the tripartite commission at the level of deputy prime ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia for transport communications, within the framework of the delimitation process, as well as plans to start negotiations on a peace agreement. Of course, we will discuss this in detail," he added.
The Azerbaijani President concluded: "I want to say again that Azerbaijan is committed to the trilateral documents that Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia signed after the Second Karabakh war, and we will do everything to ensure that the situation in the Caucasus is stable."
