BAKU, March 18. /TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory telegram to Vladimir Putin on the occasion of his re-election as head of the Russian state, stressing the stable development of relations between Baku and Moscow.
"Please accept my sincere congratulations on your re-election as President of the Russian Federation. Your convincing victory in the election testifies to the great confidence and active support of the Russians for the course you are pursuing aimed at strengthening statehood, sustainable socio-economic development and increasing the well-being of the country's population," reads the telegram, the text of which has been published on the website of the Azerbaijani leader.
The message emphasizes that relations between Azerbaijan and Russia "differ in the stability of their development." "It is gratifying that today these relations, based on the centuries-old traditions of friendship and good-neighborliness between our peoples, are successfully expanding and strengthening in the spirit of allied cooperation and mutually beneficial cooperation, filling with new content," the message says.
"I am convinced that our joint efforts will continue to be aimed at deepening the Azerbaijani-Russian comprehensive partnership, implementing urgent tasks on the bilateral agenda, and ensuring fruitful cooperation in all areas for the prosperity of our countries and peoples," the telegram reads.
Aliyev wished Putin good health, happiness, well-being and success in government activities for the prosperity of Russia.
The Azerbaijani president also congratulated Putin on his election victory during a telephone conversation on Monday.
The Russian presidential election was held from March 15 to 17. For the first time, it was held over three days and used remote electronic voting, which was available in about a third of the country's regions. According to the CEC, after counting 99.43% of the ballots, the current head of state Vladimir Putin is in the lead with 87.32% of the vote.