Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Aug. 8, 2016. (Xinhua/AZERTAC)

MOSCOW, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday spoke highly of the "dynamic progress" in the Russia-Azerbaijan relations in the spirit of strategic partnership, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin sent a message to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and congratulated him on the Republic Day, a national holiday in the Caucasian country for its independence.

"Putin expressed confidence in the further broadening of the complete range of bilateral relations in the interest of the two countries' friendly peoples and in the spirit of improving regional stability and security," said the Kremlin statement.

Azerbaijan was a republic of the former Soviet Union and it established relations with Russia in April 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the previous year.