TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev will hold their trilateral summit in Russia before the end of the year, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov said on Monday.

“The summit will be held before the end of the year,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Bocharnikov as saying.

“It is Russia’s turn to host it, so the summit will be held on the Russian territory. The exact date of the summit will be announced officially,” he said, adding that the participants of the summit will discuss all the aspects of their cooperation.

Putin had said in a meeting with his Azeri counterpart that the next meeting of Iran-Russia-Azerbaijan presidents will be held in Russia in August.

Meanwhile, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov had announced that the three presidents will meet in Russia.

He described the trilateral meeting as a good and effective initiative for exchanging views and discussing regional and international issues.

He noted that Tehran, Moscow and Baku officials are supporting this procedure.

The first and the second trilateral meetings were held on August, 2016 in Baku and November, 2017 in Tehran.

MH/PA