Armenian President not to attend CIS summit

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 21, 2006

[ 21 Jul. 2006 16:25 ]

The heads of states from the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) are arriving at the Russian capital of Moscow to attend the
CIS informal summit tomorrow (APA).

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin invited the CIS heads of state to
discuss the ongoing processes in the world as well as issues regarding
improvement of the CIS. The heads of states will also follow the
horse races for Russian President’s award, which are held in Moscow
for three years.

The summit’s agenda is free, no documents are expected to be
adopted. President Putin will also introduce his counterparts the
results of the G8 summit held in St Petersburg from July 15 to 17.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev today has left for Moscow to attend
the summit. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili will not participate
in the summit, said Georgi Arveladze, head of President’s Office. The
reason for the postponing was not made public. But it is believed
Saakashvili refused the visit as he won’t be able to meet with his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Georgian and Russian Presidents
were expected to meet in private to discuss Georgian parliament’s
recent decision on withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers from the
conflict zones in Georgia.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian will not attend the
CIS summit either. The reason for that was shown his health
problems. Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurad Niyazov was announced
previously that he will not attend the summit.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko will not participate in the
summit due to the political situation in his country. His press
secretary Irina Gerashenko told journalists that Yushchenko has written
to the host of the summit Vladimir Putin about that. The Ukrainian
President also wrote in the letter that Ukraine sees Russia as a key
strategic partner. He also asked President Putin to specify the date
of his visit to Ukraine./APA/