The two presidents met in Sochi today ahead of a trilateral meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
Opening the talks with Ilham Aliyev, Dmitriy Medevedev noted the importance of the upcoming trilateral meeting to discuss resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"There have been quite a lot of these meetings in recent years. In some places we've moved forward, but in others, probably, major problems remain, but I think that this dialogue is useful and hope that such contacts will continue," Medvedev said.
In his opening remarks, the Azerbaijani president thanked his Russian
colleague "for continued efforts to find ways to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem".
"As you have correctly noted, there have been encouraging moments,
there have been moments that strengthened the sense of pessimism, but
the fact that you continue these efforts is inspiring," Aliyev said,
stressing that Azerbaijan is interested in settlement and stability in
the region.
Elsewhere in his opening speech, Dmitriy Medevedev proposed discussion of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation including a review of the past year.
He described the outcome of cooperation in 2011 as "not bad".
"We are closely linked to the Caucasus, we are not indifferent to what happens there or in the surrounding regions," Medevev said of Russia's interest in Azerbaijan.
In turn, Ilham Aliyev agreed that the intensive nature of the relationship could strengthen interaction in all areas.
"I agree that last year was successful for our bilateral affairs: political cooperation was reinforced, new initiatives were proposed, trade increased by dozens of percentage points and the structure has been improving," the Azerbaijani leader said.
He thanked Dmitriy Medvedev for his support for Azerbaijan's candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
"Over the next two years we will work closely with you in the Security Council and will seek to meet the expectations of the 155 countries that supported us," he assured Medvedev.
The trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani presidents is currently under way in Sochi.
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