Azerbaijan`s Minister of Culture Adil Karimli has met with the Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Alin Bayel. Karimli hailed the friendly relations between Azerbaijani and Kazakh peoples, stressing developing cultural relations between the two countries in a number of fields. They also emphasized the importance of implementing joint projects for further strengthening of cooperation in various fields of culture and art. Alin Bayel hailed the high level relations between the two countries, stressing ample opportunities that will contribute to the deepening of cooperation in the field of culture. The exchange also centered around the days of Kazakh culture, which will be held in Azerbaijan on December 2-5, and other issues of mutual interest. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order to increase the number of military personnel in the Russian Armed Forces by nearly 170,000, APA reports citing TASS. According to the decree, which was posted on the Kremlin website on Friday and comes into effect on the day of signing, the total number of people serving in the Russian Armed Forces has been set at 2,209,130, including 1,320,000 servicemen. Under the previous decree, which has been in force since January 1, 2023, this figure was 2,039,758 people, including 1,150,628 servicemen.