Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev recently received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday and said he was confident the visit would bolster ties between the two countries.

Aliyev said Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to his country last year gave tremendous impetus to establishing bilateral relations and the two sides would continue to make efforts in several fields, according to News.az.

Lavrov conveyed greetings from Putin and said the Russian head of state was pleased about the visit he made to Azerbaijan and the meetings he held during the trip.

According to Lavrov, both he and the president shared Aliyev's views that Azerbaijan-Russia relations were strategic in nature and that the cooperation between the two countries was successfully continuing, News.az reports.