AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS MEET IN MOSCOW

Baku,16 September,(AzerTAj)Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia have met today at the Mayendorf palace in Moscow.

President Dmitry Medvedev said:
- Dear Ilham Heydarovich!
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Moscow. We have another opportunity to
discuss the current state of our bilateral relations which are developing very
dynamically. We are much satisfied with this partnership. We have practically
achieved all we had planned during my official visit to Baku, and I believe that by
the end of the year we will get that $2-billion trade we had agreed on even though
economic situation in the world is not so good. What gives us additional pleasure is
that our relations are long-standing. We also have very good relations in
humanitarian sphere as we had agreed on. As far as I remember a branch of the Moscow
state university will open in Baku soon which will be another remarkable event.
Surely, we need to “synchronize our watches” taking into account problems brought to
the Caucasian region after Georgia`s aggression. We have not met with you to discuss
international situation since these events happened. I consider this important given
that our countries are interested in stable and progressive development of both our
relations and situation in Caucasus in general. Once again I welcome you.

President Ilham Aliyev said:
- Thank you, Dmitry Anatolyevich. Thank you for inviting me to visit Moscow. As
you`ve mentioned our visits are intensive in character. Recently we have met during
your official trip to Azerbaijan. We in Azerbaijan hail the fact it was one of your
first visits in the post of President of Russia, the fact which demonstrates the
character and spirit of relations between our states.
We are satisfied with the development of our relations which cover a broad scope –
from active political cooperation to economic ties. As you have said our bilateral
trade is rapidly growing, and it is pleasant that the structure of the turnover is
also getting better. We have also been fulfilling all our tasks in humanitarian
sphere. And I have to say that the branch of the Moscow state university has already
opened in Baku. Early this year I issued a relevant decree, and today we have
already completed the enrolment process. So we have had the university`s branch in
Baku since 2008, and this demonstrates how promptly we solve our tasks. We have been
fulfilling all that we had set during your Baku visit, in a Declaration of
friendship and strategic partnership. I strongly believe that our relations will
further develop and continue being expanded and enriched. In our region we have a
big necessity to consolidate our efforts towards establishing peace, stability and
predictability. What differs our relations is their predictable character. Our
relations are friendly and good-neighborly, and we are much satisfied with their
development. The regularity of our meetings reflects the essence of our relations.
Once again thank you for the invitation, and I look forward towards continuation of
fruitful cooperation.