President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Defense Minister of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Ravkov.

The head of state hailed the fact that the Belarusian Defense Minister came to Azerbaijan with a large delegation to attend the international defense exhibition. President Ilham Aliyev praised the military cooperation between the two countries, saying it has successfully developed for many years. The head of state described this as a good indicator of the high level of mutual confidence between Azerbaijan and Belarus and multifaceted cooperation in the economic, political, military and other areas. The President said hardware purchased from Belarus in recent years meets very high standards, adding that he discussed this issue with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijani experts are also satisfied with the high quality and reliability of those products. President Ilham Aliyev said this attests to great achievements of Belarus in the military and technical areas. Stressing historical relations between the two countries, the head of state noted that there are good prospects for future development of this cooperation. President Ilham Aliyev stressed the importance of demonstrating Belarusian military hardware at the international defense exhibition in Azerbaijan from the point of view of introducing novelties in this field and determining cooperation prospects.

The head of state said the Belarusian Defense Minister’s visit to Azerbaijan will contribute to the development of relations between the two countries, adding that the visit opens up good opportunities for discussing the future development of the bilateral cooperation.

Defense Minister of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Ravkov said: “I want to extend the greetings of President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to his close friend, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan.”

He quoted the President of Belarus, saying his country regards Azerbaijan as a reliable friend in the South Caucasus, while Belarus is a friendly and reliable country for Azerbaijan in the center of Europe. Andrei Ravkov said Azerbaijan supported Belarus in its hard times, and thanked President Ilham Aliyev for this. Saying he visits Azerbaijan on a remarkable day for the country, the Belarusian Defense Minister described referendum as a crucial event.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of Alexander Lukashenko, and asked Andrei Ravkov to extend his greetings to the President of Belarus.