Putin touts Russian investments during Azerbaijan visit

BAKU, Azerbaijan – Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Azerbaijan and hailed the increasingly close economic ties between the two ex-Soviet neighbours.

Putin said during Thursday’s visit to Baku that Russian companies have created 700 joint ventures in Azerbaijan and their investments in the oil-rich Caspian nation have exceeded $1.5 billion.

Addressing a business forum with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Putin noted that Russia’s top oil company, Rosneft, is set to tap oilfields in Azerbaijan in co-operation with its state oil company.

Russia has sought to maintain friendly ties with both Azerbaijan and Armenia, which remain locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan that has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994.