ArmInfo.Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev began talks in Astana, the Kremlin press service reports.
"Our cooperation is extensive. I believe we would have plenty to discuss even if we met every month. I would like to highlight the positive development in the key area, which is our trade and economic cooperation. Our trade volume exceeds US$4 billion, and Russian direct investments in Azerbaijan's economy amount to US$4.3-4.5 billion.
The trend is positive, with a growth rate of approximately 13 percent in the first six months of this year. Everything is progressing well. I would also like to mention our infrastructure plans, particularly the well-known North-South Transport Corridor, which is our top priority. I hope we will discuss this further. There are opportunities in other spheres, too, such as energy and industrial cooperation. We act as envisaged in the agreement that you and I signed back in late 2022. It serves as a strong foundation to develop relations in all areas. I would also like to acknowledge the cultural aspect. I understand that the Days of Russian Culture recently concluded in Azerbaijan. I appreciate your personal dedication to supporting the Russian language. There are over 300 schools in Azerbaijan that provide instruction to young people and children in Russian. This provides a strong foundation with good prospects for maintaining and advancing our relations in the future. I am delighted to see you," Putin said.
" As you mentioned, we have many issues to discuss, but this is how our meetings work. We meet almost every month - last time, I visited Moscow in the second half of April, and now we meet again just over a month later. As you also noted, this shows that we have a lot of issues to discuss and that they are being addressed successfully. It is also evident from the growth in trade, both this year and last, that economic cooperation is thriving. It is gratifying that mutual payments in national currencies are also growing, already accounting for over 70 percent of Azerbaijani's exports to Russia, and about 50 percent of Russian exports to Azerbaijan. This demonstrates that what we discussed a few years ago is now being successfully implemented. Humanitarian cooperation has always been at the core of our relations. I am grateful to you for always noting and appreciating the widespread attitude towards the Russian language, Russian culture and literature in Azerbaijan. This has been confirmed once again by the Days of Russian Culture in Azerbaijan festival, which was a great success.
About a million students in Azerbaijan are enrolled in Russian-language programmes, with 150,000 attending Russian schools, and another 800,000 studying Russian as a second language. In other words, the future generation of our citizens will have active interactions with Russia and speak Russian just as we do. We discussed the North-South project at our previous meeting in Moscow. A few positive events have taken place since then, and we will talk about them. We are determined to expand the transport corridor infrastructure on the Azerbaijani side. Although it is physically in place, it is not meeting the plans of our partners and neighbours to maximise the use of this project. As you noted, there are new ideas in the energy sector, and our respective agencies are in touch. We will also discuss this today, as well as all other areas. As you noted, in 2022 we signed the Allied Declaration, which is being successfully implemented; all the provisions of that declaration are reflected in real life. We have been working together as allies for more than two years and achieving good results. Today we will talk about this in detail. Thank you again for the opportunity to meet with you," Aliyev said.
Both Putin and Aliyev in Astana will participating the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). It will be held from July 3 to 4. At the meeting, the leaders of the countries included in the organization , the Kremlin specified.
