RUSSIAN MEDIA ANALYZES PROSPECTS OF RUSSIAN-AZERBAIJAN COOPERATION
[February 18, 2005, 18:38:59]

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Feb 18 2005

Opening of the Year of Azerbaijan in the Russian Federation, the
meeting of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President
of Russia Vladimir Putin has received a wide resonance in the Russian
mass media.

So, in the newspaper “Moscow Komsomolets”, the author Alexander
Budberg writes, that if several years ago Azerbaijan was considered
almost as the main opponent of Moscow in Trans-Caucasus, today is its
main economic partner in region, “the strategic partner”. In opinion
of the author, contacts of Moscow and Baku carry, obviously,
geo-politic character. Behind the “Year of Culture” always, first of
all, stands desire to strengthen political and economic relations.
Many Russian corporations want to enter the neighboring country, and
the Russian leadership would wish, that such opportunity is given to
them”, writes A. Budberg. The author approves that Kazakhstan and
Azerbaijan are two key countries in the CIS; “loss” of them would
mean loss of the CIS. Further, the author marks: “With Azerbaijan we
historically had uneasy relations. In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Russia unequivocally supported Armenia. Now, Moscow tries to adhere
to strictly neutral policy, but old faults simply so do not let off.
Yet Yerevan is not ready to compromises around Karabakh. At the same
time, the economic situation of the country worsens, that forces
Armenia all to be united more closely with Russia and Iran. Not
casually the Americans have made some outflow that ostensibly the
Kremlin tries to organize the Moscow-Yerevan-Tehran axis. And though,
in fact, the Kremlin is not interested at all in such politics
tricks, the heavy economic condition of Armenia and desire as can be
salted more rigidly to Washington can to move us to this side.
Naturally, any such movement cannot cause sympathy in Baku where
count itself a victim of aggression. All this complicates relations
between Russia and Azerbaijan. But, on the other hand, strong and
political and economic interests of two countries are obvious, that
hardly existing difficulties can slow down process of rapprochement”.

In the newspapers “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, “Kommersant”, “Gazeta”,
“Krasnaya Zvezda” and others also have in detail told about visit of
the Azerbaijan President to the Russian capital, which has taken
place on February 15-16.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress