“We have an intergovernmental commission,” he said. “It has recently held its last meeting. The corresponding decision was made there. Azerbaijan has actively participated in international military game competitions over the past few years. As far as I know, some of these competitions may be held in the territory of Azerbaijan at sea next year.”

Bocharnikov noted that the defense ministers of the two countries contact several times a year, adding that this year, the head of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces visited Azerbaijan three times.

He added that some Azerbaijani servicemen are trained in Russian military universities. Ships of the Navy and the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation arrive in Azerbaijan's ports, he said.

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The year 2019 will be eventful in terms of development of trade cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov said at a press conference in Baku Dec. 24, Trend reports.

The ambassador noted that Russia regards relations with Azerbaijan as a strategic partnership.

“This year saw strengthening of this strategic partnership,” he said. “Activity was observed in all areas of cooperation.”

Speaking about the priorities of cooperation for 2019, Bocharnikov noted that they include continuation of work in those areas, on which cooperation was agreed upon in 2018.

“This year, we agreed on a lot of things, above all, on the development of trade and economic relations,” the diplomat said.

He noted that the parties also plan to increase humanitarian cooperation next year.

Russia is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan. In 2017, the two countries celebrated the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. The Russian Federation is one of Azerbaijan’s main economic and trade partners.

Russia has invested over $3.7 billion in the Azerbaijani economy. Azerbaijani entrepreneurs have invested more than $1 billion in the Russian economy.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to almost $2 billion in January-October 2018. The trade turnover between the countries increased by 15 percent compared to the same period of 2017.

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Russia and Azerbaijan intend to create a trans-Caspian transport line, as well as develop cruise tourism in the Caspian Sea, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov said at a press conference in Baku Dec. 24, Trend reports.

On Aug.12, a summit of leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran was held in the Kazakh city of Aktau, which resulted in the signing of a historic document for the region - the convention on the status of the Caspian Sea.

“I am very pleased that this is considered to be a very important event in Azerbaijan,” the ambassador said. “This convention allows filling existing agreements with concrete content.”

He noted that there still remain delimitation issues, but not between Russia and Azerbaijan. “Cooperation will be carried out to ensure the safety of navigation, the preservation of biological resources, etc.,” the ambassador added.

At the 5th Caspian Summit, held Aug. 12 in Aktau, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "Peter The Great" cruise ship is being built in Russia, which will be able to perform all-round cruises across the Caspian Sea to all the five Caspian states.

Two types of cruises are planned – short (7-8 days) and long (13-14 days) cruises. The short ones will call to several ports in the northern and southern parts of the Caspian Sea, while long cruises will call to the ports of all five coastal states.

The commissioning of the ship is scheduled for the next year approximately.

Most of the Caspian cruises are planned to begin and end in Baku. In the future, "Peter the Great" will also take cruises connecting the Caspian, Azov and Black seas.

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More favorable atmosphere for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be created in 2019, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov said at a press conference in Baku Dec. 24, Trend reports.

“The basis of this has already been laid this year,” he said. “Several meetings were held at the highest level. A meeting is expected between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in January 2019. Russia is ready to continue to help resolving the conflict.”

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