Putin and Zelenskyy congratulate Azerbaijan's Aliyev for his election win after retaking Karabakh

The Ukrainian and Russian presidents congratulated Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev after his expected landslide win as preliminary results released Thursday indicated his resounding victory in the presidential election held the day before.Aliyev had called an early vote just months after his forces swiftly reclaimed the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists who had controlled it for three decades.

The Ukrainian and Russian presidents congratulated Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev after his expected landslide win as preliminary results released Thursday indicated his resounding victory in the presidential election held the day before.

Aliyev had called an early vote just months after his forces swiftly reclaimed the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists who had controlled it for three decades. He is now heading into another, seven-year term in office.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Aliyev and the two spoke about continuing their "strategic partnerships," according to the Azeri leader's press service.

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted his congratulations on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that he appreciated Azerbaijan's humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and valued the "mutual support for our states' sovereignty and territorial integrity." With just over 93 per cent of the ballots counted, Aliyev secured more than 92 per cent of the votes, the head of the Central Election Commission, Mazahir Panahov, said early Thursday. His three main challengers trailed far behind and conceded the race, congratulating Aliyev, the Interfax Azerbaijan news agency reported.

Aliyev, 62, has been in power for more than 20 years, succeeding his father who was Azerbaijan's Communist boss and then president for a decade when the country became independent after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Other leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, also offered congratulations.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)