Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will discuss bilateral relations at the Kremlin, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, TASS reports.
"The two heads of state will hold a meeting at the Kremlin," he said, adding that the conversation "will continue at a working breakfast."
The Kremlin spokesman noted that the two leaders "will hold a separate meeting with the veterans, builders and employees of the Baikal-Amur Mainline." "The father [of the incumbent Azerbaijani president] supervised its construction on behalf of the Soviet government," Peskov said. "The 50th anniversary [of the Baikal-Amur Mainline] is certainly something special, particularly for our bilateral relations," he added.
"Azerbaijan is our good trade and economic partner; there are great opportunities to expand the entire range <...> of cooperation," the Kremlin spokesman emphasized. Peskov noted that Moscow was Baku’s third-biggest trade partner after Italy and Turkey.
Apart from bilateral relations, Putin and Aliyev will also discuss regional issues. "Intense discussions of regional issues always take place <...> given the constructive allied relations," Peskov said.
After the meeting with Aliyev, the Russian president plans to hold "several working meetings on domestic issues."
Putin at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev called security issues in the region sensitive.
The talks between the heads of state are taking place at the Kremlin.
"We will also talk about the situation in terms of ensuring security in the region. There is a host of issues to deal with there, they are very sensitive. We are both in the know of each of them," the Russian president said.
Russian-Azerbaijani trade relations are developing proactively and the trade turnover between the two countries reached $4 bln, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
Relations between the two countries "are at a high level and developing," Putin noted. "Our trade turnover is growing - it has achieved already more than $4 bln; $6 bln <...> are Russian investments in the economy of Azerbaijan," the Russian leader said.
"The intergovernmental commission is working proactively and there are many interesting areas of collaboration - in the real sector of the economy, in cooperation, in infrastructure," Putin noted.
Russia is proactively implementing the North - South international transport corridor, including in particular construction of the Rasht-Astara railway section. Moscow said last May that Baku would probably join agreements on creation of the corridor.
