Mr Putin will hold bilateral meetings with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in Sochi in August 9.
The talks with Mr Aliyev will focus on key bilateral cooperation issues and taking further joint steps on promising, mutually advantageous projects, above all in energy, investment and interregional cooperation.
The meeting with Mr Sargsyan will include an exchange of views on further developing Russian-Armenian political, trade and economic, and humanitarian cooperation. Armenia’s accession to the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union will be a key issue on the agenda.
Also on August 9, Mr Putin will give the signal via video linkup to start exploratory drilling at the West Alpha rig, which is operating at Russia’s northernmost drilling site, Universitetskaya-1, in the Kara Sea.
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and President of ExxonMobil Russia Glenn Waller will take part in the launch ceremony in person at the rig in the Kara Sea.
Drilling at the Universitetskaya-1 site will take place in open waters during the ice-free drilling season from August through to late October. The West Alpha rig has undergone additional modernisation to enable it to operate in the Arctic waters and has been furnished with innovative ice control equipment and a system for avoiding collisions with icebergs.
Following his now established custom, the President will also visit the annual PLOTFORMA S-70 international combat sambo championship. This year, Russia’s national martial arts team will face a combined international team that includes the best athletes from Europe, Asia, and America.