Russia expects Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to participate in the informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to be held in St. Petersburg.

Axar.az reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this in a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

"At the end of the month, at the beginning of Christmas, the meetings of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the traditional informal summit of the CIS will be held in St. Petersburg, where we expect the participation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, as in previous years," he said.

Lavrov noted that Azerbaijan-Russia relations are on the rise:

"On October 12, two months ago, in Bishkek, our leaders spoke within the framework of the CIS summit and confirmed that they are committed to deepening our alliance and strategic interaction."