Putin, Aliyev and Pezeshkian meet in Turkmenistan after Caspian summit

Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Masoud Pezeshkian met in Turkmenistan after the Caspian Environmental Summit. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the meeting.

Peskov told Interfax that the meeting took place after the summit. “Yes, indeed, such a meeting took place after the Caspian Summit,” he said. Azerbaijani outlet Minval separately reported that talks among the three leaders began on October 9.

The previous trilateral meeting of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Iranian leaders took place nine years ago, Interfax reported. Azerbaijan’s presidential website says Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and then Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met in Tehran on November 1, 2017.

The Caspian Environmental Summit brings together the leaders of the five Caspian littoral states: Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Its agenda includes regional cooperation on security, the economy, transport, the legal status of the Caspian Sea and protection of its ecosystem. The first summit was held in Ashgabat in 2002.

Putin arrived in Turkmenistan on October 8 and held talks that day with the country’s president, Serdar Berdimuhamedov. On October 9, he travelled to the Awaza National Tourist Zone on the Caspian coast to attend a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State and the Caspian Environmental Summit. The year 2026 marks 35 years since the CIS was established.