Russian President Vladimir Putin reached Azerbaijan on the evening of 18 August. He is on a two-day state visit. Shortly after his arrival, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev welcomed Putin in Baku. Official talks between Putin and Aliyev are expected on August 19.
According to the agency, the Kremlin said Putin would hold talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart on bilateral relations and ‘international and regional problems’. Local official news agency Asertac said the two leaders would dine at the official residence of the Azerbaijani president on Sunday evening. Russian agency RIA Novosti said that on Monday Aliyev and Putin will sign joint documents and make statements to the press.
Putin will also visit and lay a wreath at the grave of the current leader’s father, Heydar Aliyev, who was president from 1993 to 2003.
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Putin reached Azerbaijan after 6 years
Azerbaijan is a major producer of natural gas, to which many European countries have turned to to compensate for a huge shortfall in Russian supplies after the conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022. It is also hosting the COP29 climate conference in November.
Putin’s last visit to Azerbaijan was in September 2018. An arrest warrant is issued against Putin from the International Criminal Court for ‘deporting’ Ukrainian children to Russia from March 2023. At the same time, the Kremlin denies this allegation.