State visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 26^th of January, 2002 is especially important for the improvement of bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On the first day of the visit, on 25^th of January the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev met the Russian President Vladimir Putin in the private residence of Putin in Novo-Ograyova. During the meeting, while emphasizing potential perspectives of the cooperation between the countries in the fields of economy, politics, and humanitarian spheres, the presidents talked with pleasure about the relations within the framework of international and regional organizations and of the reciprocal support.

On the 25^th of January there was a tete-a-tet meeting between the Azerbaijani and the Russian Presidents. They broadly discussed the resolution of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over Nagorno Karabakh through peaceful negotiations. The Azerbaijani President stressed the crucial role of Russia in the solution of the conflict. The Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his readiness to increase the efforts of his country in this field.

On the same day the negotiations were held with the participation of the Azerbaijani and Russian delegations. After the negotiations a ceremony of signature of the Azerbaijani-Russian documents was held. Presidents Heydar Aliyev and Vladimir Putin signed an agreement on a long term economic cooperation  between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Russian Federation until 2010,  an agreement on the status and the principles and conditions of the usage of Gabala Radar Station ( “Deryal” RLS),  and joint declaration of the Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents. The members of the Russian and Azerbaijani delegations signed agreements covering the main principles and directions of economic cooperation, agreements on cooperation of production, on cooperation in fight against the breach of tax legislation and exchange of information, on the activity of the border guards of the two countries.

After the signature of documents the Russian President Vladimir Putin appreciated the visit of the Azerbaijani President as an important stage in the development of the bilateral relations when he spoke to the representatives of mass media. The President of Azerbaijan emphasized that this meeting would take an important place in the Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

On the same day President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin hosted an official reception in the honor of Heydar Aliyev. The Azerbaijani President in the reception stated that the foundation of the friendly relations was established on strong basis created by their ancestors in decades.

On the same day the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan met the chairman of the Russian government Mikhail Kasyanov. During the meeting they stated that the intensification of the reciprocal beneficial relations between Azerbaijan and Russia is very significant for both countries, they talked about the issues of cooperation between the countries on the joint consumption and transportation of hydrocarbon resources of Caspian Sea. It was mentioned that the Intergovernmental Azerbaijani-Russian Commission had a special role in the development of economic relations.

On the 25^th of January the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev met the mayor of Moscow Yuri Lujkov. They talked about the work of the joint commission on economic, cultural and scientific-technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and Moscow with pleasure. The importance of expansion of the activities of this commission was touched upon.

On the 25^th of January rector of Moscow State University named after M.Lomonosov V.Sadovnichi presented the diploma and medal of the honorary professor of Moscow University to Heydar Aliyev for his achievements in the development of cooperation in the field of science, education, and culture between Azerbaijan and Russia.

On the 26^th of October President of Azerbaijan met the minister of foreign affairs of Russia Igor Ivanov. They expressed their satisfaction from closeness of the Azerbaijani-Russian positions in the issue of the legal status of the Caspian Sea. It was decided to continue the work in this direction by special working groups on the level of deputy foreign ministers.  The importance of strengthening cooperation in the regional and international organizations, and improvement of  the relations in humanitarian field were mentioned.

On the same day the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev met representatives of mass media of the Russian Federation and ITAR-TASS agency. After the meeting the Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency (AzerTac) and ITAR-TASS News Agency signed a memorandum on the cooperation in the international information service.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev towards the end of his visit stated in the opening ceremony of a subsidiary branch of the International Bank of Azerbaijan in Moscow: “My successful visit to Russian Federation has ended. I am very satisfied with this visit.”