Russian president arrives in Azerbaijan for state visit

ArmInfo. Russian President  Vladimir Putin arrived in Azerbaijan's capital Baku on Sunday for a  two-day state visit, Russian news agencies reported.

Russian television broadcast images of the president's plane as it  arrived in Baku in the evening.

His visit to the Caucasus country, a close partner of both Moscow and  Turkey but also a major energy supplier to Western countries, comes  against the backdrop of an unprecedented Ukrainian military offensive  on Russian soil.

Putin is due to hold talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham  Aliyev on bilateral relations and "international and regional  problems", the Kremlin said.

The two leaders are dining Sunday evening at the Azerbaijani  president's official residence, local official news agency Asertac  said.

On Monday, Aliyev and Putin will sign joint documents and make  statements to the press, said Russian agency Ria Novosti.

Putin will also lay a wreath on the tomb of Heydar Aliyev, father of  the current leader, who was president from 1993 to 2003.

Earlier, the Kremlin said they would also discuss "the question of  settling (the conflict) between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

Armenia accused Russia of inadequate support in its conflict with  Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Since then, Armenia has sought to deepen its ties with Western  countries, especially the United States, much to the annoyance of  Moscow, which considers both former Soviet republics to be in its  sphere of influence.

Azerbaijan is a major producer of natural gas, to whom many European  countries turned to make up for the sharp reduction in Russian  deliveries after the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February  2022.

It is also hosting the COP29 climate conference in November.

Putin's last visit to Azerbaijan was in September 2018.