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[Text/Observer.com Xiong Chaoran] On the evening of August 18, local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to begin a two-day state visit. According to the news released by the Kremlin, during the visit, the leaders of the two countries will discuss bilateral relations and international and regional affairs, and will issue a joint statement and sign a series of documents.

AFP reported that Azerbaijan is not only a close partner of Russia and Turkey, but also a major energy supplier to Western countries. Putin's visit to this Caucasus country at this time is carried out against the backdrop of Ukraine's recent "unprecedented military offensive" against Russian territory in the Kursk region.

According to reports, Russian official television broadcast Putin's arrival in Baku on a special plane. Azerbaijan State News Agency reported that Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev had dinner with Putin at his official residence on the evening of August 18 local time.

Russian News Agency reported that on August 19, local time, Putin and Aliyev will sign a joint document and issue a joint statement to the media. At the same time, Putin will also lay a wreath at the grave of Ilham Aliyev's father Heydar Aliyev, who served as President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003.

Earlier, the Kremlin said that the topics discussed by Putin and Aliyev will also include "solving the (conflict) between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

In recent years, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has been repeatedly volatile, with constant conflicts and large-scale military clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Last September, Armenia accused Russia of "not doing enough" on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, to which the Kremlin responded by saying, "This is Azerbaijan's internal affairs."

Since then, Armenia has sought to deepen its ties with Western countries, especially the United States, which has made Russia "very annoyed" because Russia believes that the two former Soviet republics are within its sphere of influence, AFP said.

The report also said that Azerbaijan is a major producer of natural gas. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, many European countries turned to Azerbaijan for energy imports to make up for the sharp reduction in Russian natural gas supply. In addition, Azerbaijan will host the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in November this year.

Putin last visited Azerbaijan in September 2018. On March 17 last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of "war crimes" and illegally deporting children from Ukraine to Russia. This means that the 123 member states of the International Criminal Court are obliged to arrest Putin, and if Putin sets foot on the territory of any member state, the member state should transfer him to The Hague for trial.

The Kremlin has firmly rejected these accusations. The Russian Investigative Committee has also filed criminal cases against prosecutors and judges of the International Criminal Court, arguing that their actions were clearly illegal, that they have no reason to hold Putin criminally responsible, and that the head of state enjoys absolute immunity from foreign jurisdiction.

The basis for the establishment of the International Criminal Court is the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which came into effect on July 1, 2002. AFP pointed out that although this "arrest warrant" restricted some of Putin's overseas travel, Azerbaijan was not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

On August 6, local time, Ukrainian troops raided Russia's Kursk Oblast, which was the largest attack launched by Ukraine on Russian territory since the outbreak of the conflict.

On August 18, the deputy director of the Military and Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, Alaudinov, said that a large number of Ukrainian military personnel had been eliminated in the Kursk direction and the situation there had been brought under control. The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Oleksandr Oleksyukh, posted on social media that the Ukrainian army had carried out an airstrike on a bridge in Kursk Oblast, hitting Russia's "logistics capabilities."

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on August 18 that the Ukrainian army lost more than 300 people and 6 tanks in the Kursk direction in the past day. In the entire battle in Kursk Oblast, the Ukrainian army has lost more than 3,460 people and 50 tanks. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Sersky, announced on August 15 that the Ukrainian army controlled 1,150 square kilometers of Russian territory and 82 settlements.

However, the fighting in Kursk Oblast posed a threat to the safety of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia. According to CCTV News, a huge explosion was heard over the city of Kurchatov, where the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is located, in the early morning of August 18 local time.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.