ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan's president on Tuesday discussed bilateral relations and peace talks with neighboring Armenia in a meeting with Russia's envoy for normalization of Baku-Yerevan ties.

"The Head of State (Ilham Aliyev) touched on the bilateral relations between Russia and Azerbaijan and emphasized with satisfaction that our cooperation is developing successfully in various fields," said a statement by the Azerbaijani presidency after Aliyev's meeting with Igor Khovayev.

The statement noted that Aliyev also touched on the importance of mutual visits and cooperation at the level of legislative bodies between Azerbaijan and Russia.

It also said they exchanged views on the process of normalization talks between Yerevan and Baku and preparations for a peace treaty between the two nations, which fought a war in 2020 over the Azerbaijani region of Karabakh that had been occupied by Armenian forces for roughly three decades.

Khovayev informed Aliyev of his visit to the region and Russia's steps to "support the negotiation process on the preparation of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan," the statement added.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.