In the article is attempted to make a historiographic analysis on the issue of Azerbaijani-Russian relations in the 18th-19th centuries in the works of the prominent Azerbaijani historian F.M.Aliyev, who laid the foundation for the development of this direction of historical science.
 The study of factors that influenced the development of extended Azerbaijani-Russian trade relations in the specified period is considered reasonably and objectively.
 A critical assessment is given of the tendentious approach to the idea of the dominant Russian orientation in Azerbaijan and the pressure of Soviet ideological postulates is revealed.
 In the article are traced the political and economic interests of Russia in the South Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, which served as the basis for the implementation of its aggressive policy in the region. Emphasis is placed on the geostrategic and economic position of Azerbaijan as the most important factor in the large-scale plans of Russia. The position of F.Aliyev is revealed in relation to the dominant in the policy of Russia of its own interests in the South Caucasus as a whole, and in Azerbaijan in particular.