Vladimir Putin visits Azerbaijan: state visit to follow

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In a closely monitored trip from Paris, the Kremlin leader arrived in Baku on Sunday for a two-day visit. Vladimir Putin will meet with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, whose regime supports several French independence groups, such as the Kanak National Front in New Caledonia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin Russia arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday for a two-day state visit. The visit to the Caucasus country, a close partner of Moscow and a major energy supplier to the West, comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented Ukrainian military offensive on Russian territory.

Russian television showed the Kremlin host arriving in Baku in the evening. Putin Meeting with Ilham Aliyev scheduled for Monday on the shores of the Caspian Sea “Questions on the development of strategic partnership and alliance relations between Russia and Azerbaijan and current international and regional issues”designating the Kremlin.

The Russian leader will also attend a wreath-laying ceremony on August 19 at the grave of Heydar Aliyev, the father of Azerbaijan’s current leader and former president of the Caucasus country from 1993 to 2003, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Discussions on narrowing and widening formats were also on the agenda, as was the signing of a joint document and Vladimir’s press statement Putin Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti.

Vladimir’s last trip Putin Gas supplies from Azerbaijan date back to September 2018. Azerbaijan, host of the COP29 climate conference next November, is a major gas producer to which the EU has turned to to make up for a sharp drop in Russian gas deliveries since the conflict began in Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia, for its part, has been accused of playing an ambiguous role in the conflict over Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics that have long been under Russia’s sphere of influence. Armenia has criticized Moscow for its lack of support for Azerbaijan, which in September 2023 reconquered the mountainous region of Azerbaijan entirely by force after it had been controlled by Armenian separatists for three decades.

Since then, the Armenian capital Yerevan has sought to strengthen ties with Western countries, including the United States, which has caused great dissatisfaction in the Kremlin. France’s support for the Armenians has also angered Azerbaijan, which has since doubled down on its support. Disinformation campaign targeting Paris.

As Azerbaijan has adopted the Baku Initiative Group Support independence movement In France. Paris specifically blames the Aliyev regime Intervention in Caledonia. and also wonder about the role Moscow might have played behind the scenes.