DUSHANBE, October 10. /TASS/. Following talks in Dushanbe with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope that the "bad page" in relations with Azerbaijan, caused by tensions following the AZAL plane crash, has been finally turned.

"We discussed this with the President of Azerbaijan yesterday. I very much hope that we have turned this page and will move forward. We will develop our contacts without any complications and implement the ambitious plans that both countries have, both in logistics and in industrial cooperation," the Russian leader told a news conference following his visit to Tajikistan. He was commenting on the results of his meeting with Aliyev on October 9.

The latest meeting between Putin and Aliyev – the first in several months – took place on the sidelines of CIS events in Dushanbe. One of the main topics of discussion was the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane last December. Aliyev expressed special gratitude to Putin for providing information about the cause. After a conversation lasting over an hour, the two leaders embraced during an informal meeting of CIS leaders the previous evening.

The previous full-scale bilateral meeting between Putin and Aliyev took place in October 2024 on the sidelines of the CIS Council of Heads of State. Furthermore, as Putin noted, the two leaders were able to have a quick word on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China. On October 7, Aliyev warmly congratulated Putin on his birthday by telephone after more than a six-month lull in personal communication.