Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Azerbaijan on Sunday for a two-day visit despite Ukraine’s ongoing invasion of the southern Russian region of Kursk.
Putin was welcomed at Baku International Airport by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
After a joint dinner, the two leaders held informal talks, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
The Kremlin said ahead of the trip that Putin and Aliyev plan to sign several agreements to expand strategic cooperation between their countries.
Aliyev, like Putin, is an authoritarian leader who has been criticized for serious human rights violations. He last visited Moscow in April.
Putin is expected to comment on peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, after years of conflict over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Baku seized in 2023.
Russia was traditionally seen as a country close to Armenia, but refused to intervene in favor of Yerevan.
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich republic on the Caspian Sea, is a major energy supplier to the European Union.
