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BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) \u2014 Russian leader Vladimir Putin<\/a> held talks on Monday with his Azerbaijani counterpart as part of a two-day trip to secure Moscow\u2019s under-pressure trade routes and shore up ties in the South Caucasus.<\/p>\n Business links were high on the agenda as Putin and President Ilham Aliyev<\/a> met in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, with Aliyev announcing that $120 million had been earmarked to boost cargo transport between the two countries.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about the possibility of transporting 15 million tons of cargo per year or more,\u201d he said, adding that the two countries crossed the $4 billion mark for Russia-Azerbaijan turnover last year and “neither of us think that is where things will stop,\u201d<\/p>\n Such ties are a priority for Putin, who increasingly depends on countries such as Azerbaijan to access global markets because of sanctions imposed on Moscow over Russia’s war on Ukraine<\/a>, said independent political scientist Zardusht Alizade.<\/p>\n \u201cAzerbaijan is an important transit country for Russia at a time when it needs to have free access to world markets, including Iran and ports in the Indian Ocean,\u201d Alizade told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Putin\u2019s overtures have been warmly welcomed by Baku. For Azerbaijan, retaining Moscow\u2019s good-will is important for national security over tensions with neighboring Armenia, says Alizade.<\/p>\n Russia has been Armenia\u2019s longtime sponsor and ally since the fall of the Soviet Union. But relations between the two countries have become increasingly strained since Sept. 2023, when Azerbaijan waged a lightning military campaign that took control of the Karabakh region<\/a>, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatist rule there.<\/p>\n Armenia accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to in the region of failing to stop Azerbaijan\u2019s onslaught. Moscow, which has a military base in Armenia, rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn\u2019t have a mandate to intervene.<\/p>\n Baku still hopes Moscow can pressure Armenia to normalize relations, said Alizade. \u201cRussia can speed up the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n