Russian official says terror fight top of agenda in talks with Azeri leader
ANS TV, Baku
18 Oct 04
Presenter in studio A Russian Foreign Ministry official has disclosed
the issues to be discussed by the Azerbaijani and Russian presidents
tomorrow 19 October .
Correspondent Russia is ready to stand by any agreement Azerbaijan and
Armenia may reach towards a Karabakh settlement. The Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman, Aleksandr Yakovenko, has said that Moscow welcomes
the continuation of talks between Baku and Yerevan at different
levels.
We think that parties to the conflict have got to reach an acceptable
agreement, end quote.
Aleksandr Yakovenko confirmed the readiness of Russia, also as a
country co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group set up in 1992 to try to
achieve a solution to the Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia and consisting of the USA, Russia and France , to assist Baku
and Yerevan.
Touching on other aspects of Russian-Azerbaijani relations, the
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said an exchange of opinions was
currently under way on the issue of the legal status of the
Caspian. He said the sides were studying the prospects for conducting
the second summit of Caspian littoral states. The summit is likely to
be held in Tehran.
Aleksandr Yakovenko added that the focus of attention in
Russian-Azerbaijani relations was on the contributions that Azerbaijan
and Russia could make to the fight against international terrorism. He
said discussions between Moscow and Baku centred on prospects for
stepping up economic cooperation between the two countries, expanding
contacts in the trade, energy, machine-building and transport
sectors. Special attention is being paid to cooperation between
different parts of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan.
Yakovenko said further that Russia considers Azerbaijan its main
partner in the South Caucasus. Moscow is paying special attention to
bilateral cooperation with Azerbaijan and the implementation of
agreements signed during the official visit by Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev.
Passage omitted: details of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent
visit to Tajikistan