8 August 2016, 16:37 GMT
BAKU (Sputnik) — The three leaders, Putin, Iran's Hassan Rouhani and Azeri Ilham Aliyev met in the Azerbaijan's capital of Baku earlier in the day.
"Today we are opening, of course, a new page in the relations, giving a start to cooperation in a trilateral format. In our view, the demand for this format is obvious — all the three countries are united by a willingness to coordinate the approaches on a wide range of regional and global issues, by a desire to further strengthen multifaceted practical cooperation in the trade and economic spheres," Putin said at the trilateral meeting.
The Russian president said that the countries were facing similar problems and challenges, such as the ongoing global economic crisis. According to him, Azerbaijan and Iran are good neighbors and important partners for Russia.
