Category: Asia and Pacific

 

[ 21 Oct 2008 19:00 ]
Baku. Lachin Sultanova–APA. “Russian President’s initiative may be productive”, Novruz Mammadov, Head of International Affairs Department of the President’s Office told APA exclusively, while commenting on statement made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Yerevan on trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian Presidents to be held in Russia soon.

Mammadov stated that Russian President passed such decision after negotiations with Armenian President in Yerevan.
“If Russian President proposes officially, we will take concrete position. Everybody understood occurrence of conflicts, threat after developments in August in the region and whole world. Everybody understands that the conflicts should be solved to leave all threats behind. I think from this point of view that Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be solved. Armenian side should demonstrate wisdom and decisiveness and take constructive position for the solution to the conflict”, he said.
Touching upon the Armenian President’s statement “Armenia is ready to continue negotiations on the basis of “Madrid Principles” that allows solving the self-determination of Nagorno Karabakh”, Mr. Mammadov stated that the Armenian president had made a statement meeting his interests: “He made such statement no to be charged by his people, voters and partners. “Madrid Principles” are not the principles forming the international law. If we talk about the international law, territorial integrity of a country is the top issue. Madrid negotiations also envisage this factor. However, the Armenian president talks about these principles as he wants. Of course, we will never consent to this. As President Ilham Aliyev has stated, Nagorno Karabakh conflict must be solved within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity only. And the issue of self-determination of Armenians residing in Nagorno Karabakh can be considered only within this framework. Today, whole world understands it. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is recognized by all countries of the world, including Russian Federation. This conflict has no other solution variant.”
Touching upon the information regarding Russian President’s statement on withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and deployment of Russian troops instead, official the President’s Office noted that no discussions were conducted with Azerbaijan in this regard:
“One cannot even talk about the deployment of any forces in the territory of Azerbaijan without permission of an official Baku”.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will discuss trade, energy and conflict in the South Caucasus with his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sargisyan (pictured right), at talks in Armenia on October 21, a Kremlin official said.

Bilateral trade grew 13%, year-on-year, in the first eight months of 2008 to reach $536.5 million, the Kremlin said earlier. Russia is a leading trade partner of Armenia and is one of the biggest investors in the country’s economy, with accrued investment from Russia topping $1.6 billion from 1991 to July 1, 2008.

The parties will also focus on joint energy projects and the industrial development of uranium deposits in Armenia, the official said earlier.

At their talks in the capital Yerevan, the presidents will also discuss the situation in the South Caucasus following Russia’s brief war with Georgia, and other pressing international issues.

In September Armenia and other countries in the post-Soviet alliance Commonwealth of Independent States announced their support for Russia over its conflict with Georgia, but stopped short of recognizing the two provinces.

Ex-Soviet Armenia is itself locked in a bitter territorial conflict with Azerbaijan.

Armenia receives most of its gas from Russia.

The tiny Caucasus nation has high unemployment and widespread poverty. Its economic problems are aggravated by a trade embargo, imposed by neighboring Turkey and ex-Soviet Azerbaijan since the dispute over Nagorny Karabakh.

Russia has a military base in Gyumri in Armenia.

Source: RIA Novosti

 

 

 

 

 

By Ruzanna Stepanian

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday publicly offered to host the next meeting between his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts which international mediators hope will produce a breakthrough in their protracted efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“I hope that we are at an advanced stage,” Medvedev said during an official visit to Yerevan, commenting on the current state of the Karabakh peace process spearheaded by Russia, the United States and France.

“I hope that the three presidents will meet very soon to continue discussions on this theme,” he said. “I hope that the meeting will take place in Russia.”

The American, French and Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have been pressing the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to meet in the coming weeks and iron out their remaining differences on a framework peace accord proposed by them last year. “Our understanding is that such meetings will take place shortly after the forthcoming [October 15] presidential elections in Azerbaijan,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier this month.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Medvedev after their talks, President Serzh Sarkisian reiterated that the proposed peace deal is on the whole acceptable to the Armenian side because it upholds the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination. “The main thing is that we believe the conflict can be resolved by mutual compromise and by means of negotiations,” he said.

Medvedev said he and Sarkisian discussed the Karabakh conflict “in detail” but did not comment on chances of its near-term resolution, saying only that “both sides are ready to look for solutions.”

The two leaders also discussed the broader security situation in the region in the aftermath of Russia’s recent war in Georgia as well as Russian-Armenian economic relations. The latter issue was the main theme of a separate Medvedev-Sarkisian session that was attended by members of the Russian-Armenian inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation.

The commission met in Yerevan on Monday. Medvedev noted the fact that Russia remains Armenia’s number one trading partner.

According to Armenia’s National Statistical Service, the volume of Russian-Armenian trade rose by almost 20 percent year-on-year to $482.4 million in the first eight months of this year. The figure is equivalent to 14.65 percent of Armenia’s overall foreign trade turnover registered in this period.

“Our current economic relations are impressive but tend to lag behind our political relations,” Sarkisian said, calling for the launch “large-scale joint projects.” He said he and Medvedev discussed potential Russian involvement in two such projects: the planned construction of a new Armenian nuclear plant and an Armenia-Iran railway.

Medvedev said Moscow “will do everything to strengthen and develop our strategic partnership” with Armenia as he and Sarkisian inaugurated a square in central Yerevan named after Russia earlier in the day. “I am convinced that coordinated actions in the international arena is a serious factor of security and strengthening of our positions both in the Caucasus region and the world,” he said.

“Today this square is becoming yet another symbol of loyalty to the traditions of centuries-old brotherhood and spiritual kinship between our peoples,” Sarkisian said during the ceremony.