MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. The Russian side hopes that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will take part in the informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which will be held in St. Petersburg, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said as he opened negotiations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.

"As per tradition, sessions of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the informal CIS summit will be held in St. Petersburg at the very end of the month, the beginning of the Christmas season. We expect the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, just like in previous years," Russia's top diplomat said.

Additionally, Lavrov noted that Russian-Azerbaijani relations are on the rise. "On October 12, two months ago, in Bishkek, our leaders held talks on the sidelines of the CIS summit and confirmed their commitment to deepening our allied, strategic cooperation," he added.