President says Russia-Armenia co-op negatively affects conflict settlement

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2004

President Ilham Aliyev has stated that the close cooperation between
Russia and Armenia is impeding the process of the Upper Garabagh
conflict settlement.

“Speaker of Russian State Duma (parliament) said during his visit to
Armenia that this country is Russia’s forepost in South Caucasus. We
always considered Armenia a country. It turns out that it is a
forepost”, Aliyev told journalists on Friday.

“And who do we negotiate now –the forepost itself or the forepost
owner? If Armenia clarifies this issue, more favorable conditions
will be created to hold talks.”

–Boundary_(ID_gDz6fcr5F+U3Tzc/vd7WFQ)–