Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Azerbaijan with an official visit on August 13.

The honor guard was drawn up in honor of the Russian President at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport decorated with state flags of both countries.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomed Vladimir Putin on August 13.

Later, the Heads of State met in private.

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

The Russian delegation to the extended talks included ministers of foreign affairs, energy, transport, economic development, emergencies situations, and CEOs from the Russian business giants such as LUKoil, Rosoboronexport, and Rosneft.

The Azerbaijani president addressed the meeting, saying that the agenda of bilateral relations is quite extensive.

"Our cooperation is multifaceted and diverse... 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," President Aliyev said.

In turn, President Putin said the relationship between two countries is on a rising trend and despite the difficulties in the global economy, mutual trade is growing. "Last year it grew by nearly 50 percent. This is a very good indicator of our cooperation capacity."

The ceremony of signing of Azerbaijani-Russian documents was held.

President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev and President of Rosneft Oil Company Igor Sechin signed "The Agreement on Cooperation between the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Rosneft Oil Company" and "Main Terms of Oil Transportation between the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Rosneft Oil Company".

Azerbaijan`s Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov and Russian Minister for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters Vladimir Puchkov signed "Complex Plan of Cooperation between the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry for Affairs for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters of the Russian Federation for 2013-2015".

Azerbaijan`s Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov and Russian Minister of Transport Maksim Sokolov signed "The Agreement on Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Russian Federation in the Field of Aviation Search and Rescue".

Azerbaijan`s Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov and Russian Minister of Transport Maksim Sokolov signed "The Agreement on Construction of a Highway Bridge over the Samur River in the area of Samur (the Republic of Azerbaijan) - Yarag-Gazmalar (the Russian Federation) Border Checkpoints through the Russia-Azerbaijan Borderline between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Russian Federation".

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed "The Programme on Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation in the Humanitarian Field until 2015".

Afterwards, the presidents made statements for the press.

Speaking at a press conference, President Aliyev said friendly and neighborly relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are based on the history of two nations, common destiny of peoples and on mutual interests.

"We are very pleased how the relations are developing in the political sphere. We cooperate in international organizations as friends and as partners...We support each other in international organizations and in the future we will also continue the policy of mutual support in international organizations," he said.

The president expressed his regret at the stagnation in the settlement process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the failure of resolutions of international organizations in resolving the conflict.

According to President Aliyev, everything that can be destroyed were destroyed in the territory occupied for more than 20 years.

"The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian occupation forces from our territory, which remain on paper. Therefore, rapid solution of this issue is of interest of all countries of the region. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has to be resolved based on historical justice, international law and the decisions and resolutions of international organizations," he said.

The Azerbaijani president noted that Russia as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group plays an important role in the settlement of the conflict. A speedy resolution of the conflict will lead to stability, predictability and cooperation in the region.

According to the president, there is an active cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in the military-technical sphere and it has a growth tendency.

"The volume of military-technical cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan is $4 billion," the Head of State underlined. He expressed his confidence that this cooperation will continue developing actively.

"Azerbaijan is among the leading states purchasing Russian equipment, which is rightfully considered one of the best in the world," he said.

The president noted that important agreements in the field of oil and gas operations that were signed during the meeting are a new page in the oil and gas cooperation between state bodies of Russia and Azerbaijan.

"We are energy producer and exporter countries, naturally, our interests coincide," President Aliyev said. "I think very much will depend from active cooperation and coordination of our efforts within the regional energy issues. We are ready to strong cooperation and strengthening cooperation with Russia in this important front of economic and political development."

In turn, President Putin said Azerbaijan is the old, traditional and reliable partner of Russia. "We work closely in the Caucasus, in the Caspian region, in the framework of the CIS, and in the leading international institutions. Strong traditions of friendship and mutual respect between our countries, states and peoples are at the heart of such cooperation."

According to the president, humanitarian ties play a special role in strengthening the friendly and neighborly relations. A multi-country program of cooperation in the area until 2015 was approved as part of the visit.

During the negotiations, a great attention was paid to solving problems of the Caspian region.

"We are interested to turn the Caspian region to the region of peace, stability, and co-operation. There are still many unresolved issues, they relate to security issues, border delimitation, and conservation of biological diversity of the Caspian Sea. We are closely interested in solving these problems taking into account the interests of all Caspian littoral states," Putin said.

The Russian president stressed that ships of Russia's Caspian flotilla have visited Baku and in the end this year the Azerbaijani sailors plan to visit to Astrakhan.

"During the negotiations we touched upon urgent international issues, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I want to emphasize, that Russia is providing active assistance to the settlement of the conflict, which is possible only by political means," he said.

After conclusion of the negotiations, presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia visited the missile ship "Dagestan" belonging to Russia's Caspian Flotilla, which sailed to Baku with a friendly visit.

The commander told the presidents about the tactical and technical characteristics of the vessel, including weapons. Then, the two leaders came on board of Azerbaijani vessel and inspected it.

The two presidents toured the State Historical-Architectural Reserve Icherisheher during the one day visit.

The heads of state met and talked to the residents of the city.

The same day President Aliyev hosted a reception in honor of his Russian counterpart.