Putin arrives in Azerbaijan for state visit
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 Russian 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 were dining on 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." Azerbaijan reconquered the mountainous enclave in September 2023 from the Armenian separatists who had held it for three decades. 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. Putin has been under an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court since March 2023 for the "deportation" of Ukrainian children to Russia, an accusation the Kremlin denies. While the threat of arrest has limited Putin's travels abroad, Azerbaijan is not a signatory to the Rome Statute treaty that established the ICC. (AFP)