The Russian and Azerbaijani presidents met...

Dmitry Medvedev and Ilham Aliyev laid flowers at a memorial to the Azerbaijani leader"s late father, Geidar Aliyev, who oversaw rescue efforts in the city after a steamship accident on the Volga in 1983, when he was the Soviet Union"s deputy prime minister.

They also attended a ceremony to rename the square hosting the memorial after Aliyev, a longtime leader of Azerbaijan whom his son succeeded in the 2003 election, after his death.

Aliyev"s visit to Russia comes following talks in Munich on Sunday on Azerbaijan"s simmering conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

Russia, a mediator in the conflict, has stepped up efforts to spur the peace process between the two ex-Soviet Caucasus states. Media reports said the Kremlin fears a failure in the negotiations could hamper arms and other trade contracts with Azerbaijan.

Medvedev and Aliyev also attended the opening of a bridge across the river in Ulyanovsk, 893 kilometers (555 miles)

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