Russia’s RBC outlet reports that President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday, with both sides describing bilateral relations as constructive.
The Kremlin’s press service disclosed the call, according to information released by RBC. The outlet reported that the two leaders discussed current issues on the bilateral and international agenda during the conversation.
According to the Kremlin statement, the two sides emphasised the need to step up dialogue through government bodies and relevant agencies and confirmed their readiness to expand mutually beneficial cooperation across the board. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the call as “warm and substantive.”
RBC reported that this was the first phone contact between Putin and Aliyev in more than four months. The two leaders last met in person in Dushanbe in October 2025, after which the Kremlin noted a “fundamental shift in vector” in bilateral relations.
The outlets recalled that relations came under serious strain after the crash of an AZAL passenger plane in December 2024, followed by a wave of reciprocal arrests of citizens in both countries during the summer of 2025. Still, on July 13 Ilham Aliyev said relations with Russia had normalised, noting that contacts were continuing at the level of governments, the co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission, foreign ministries and presidential administrations, and stressing that Baku welcomed the continuation of dialogue.
RBC noted that a day earlier, on July 27, Putin had also held a phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Yerevan’s initiative, but that conversation was reported separately and was not linked to the topics discussed with Aliyev.
