Azerbaijan, Russia Presidents meet

Before the meeting, Putin praised President Ilham Aliyev for "embracing every opportunity to meet and talk," and called his Azerbaijani counterpart "a welcome guest."

In turn, Aliyev said he was ready to discuss bilateral issues and the situation in the region, which "relied on close ties between Russia and Azerbaijan."

Azerbaijan's president said that the two countries enjoyed "stable, friendly and cooperative relations," and said he would gladly attend the events in St. Petersburg. RIA Novosti