Azernews.Az

Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia discussed the situation in the Caucasus region, as well as bilateral relations.

"We will have a look how the situation develops in the region," the Russian president said, while opening the meeting, RIA Novosti reported.

"We are tightly connected with the Caucasus," he said. "We are not indifferent in anything that happens here and some of the surrounding regions."

President Medvedev also stressed the importance of the upcoming tripartite meeting with the Armenian counterpart, which will be devoted to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. "These meetings are held regularly," he said. "There are certain progress and certain problems. But this dialogue is useful. I hope that these contacts will be continued."

The Russian president also proposed to discuss how the Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation develops, to talk about the future, and to assess what happened last year. The Russian president called the results of cooperation in 2011 as good.

President Aliyev agreed that the intensive nature of relations can strengthen the cooperation in all areas.

"Last year was very successful," he said. "We have strengthened the cooperation. The growth of trade turnover is estimated at tens of percent."

Azerbaijani President thanked his Russian counterpart for the continued efforts to find the ways of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. "As you correctly stressed, there were some encouraging moments. There were some moments that strengthened a sense of pessimism. But the fact that you continue making these efforts is encouraging," he said.

He stressed that Azerbaijan is interested in the settlement and stability in the region.