BAKU, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Monday, saying regional security remains a relevant issue in relations between the two countries.
"Regional security remains a very topical issue in our relations, both from bilateral and multilateral aspects," said Lavrov, who met with Aliyev shortly after landing in Baku in the evening.
"Many of our international colleagues ... are showing a keen interest in helping move forward along the path of a settlement between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he said.
Lavrov said Moscow welcomes any efforts seeking to stabilize the situation and pave the way "for all the countries located here to have the opportunity to cooperate normally" on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit, and in the interests of their countries and peoples.
Aliyev said Russia has a special role to play in fostering the settlement of intergovernmental relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"Last year, important efforts were made in this direction, documents were adopted that define the conceptual nature of the future peace treaty, namely, mutual recognition of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the two countries, which was confirmed by the documents adopted in Prague and Sochi last October. These documents are the foundation that can be used to reach a peace treaty," said the Azerbaijani president.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan is determined to work positively and constructively with the Armenian side, and with the Russian side, in order to "quickly turn this page of hostility and bring peace back to the South Caucasus."
In Baku, Lavrov will also meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, and attend a conference focusing on Azerbaijan-Russia relations in the context of regional security.
Lavrov's two-day working visit marks the anniversary of the signing in February last year of the declaration on allied interaction between Azerbaijan and Russia. ■