RUSSIA, AZERBAIJAN LEADERS MEET TO TALK TRADE, CONFLICT ZONE
RIA Novosti
November 24, 2009
Ulyanovsk
The Russian and Azerbaijani presidents met in the Volga city of
Ulyanovsk on Tuesday for talks expected to focus on bilateral trade
and the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
Dmitry Medvedev and Ilham Aliyev laid flowers at a memorial to the
Azerbaijani leader’s late father, Geidar Aliyev, who oversaw rescue
efforts in the city after a steamship accident on the Volga in 1983,
when he was the Soviet Union’s deputy prime minister.
They also attended a ceremony to rename the square hosting the memorial
after Aliyev, a longtime leader of Azerbaijan whom his son succeeded
in the 2003 election, after his death.
Aliyev’s visit to Russia comes following talks in Munich on Sunday
on Azerbaijan’s simmering conflict with Armenia over the disputed
Nagorny Karabakh region.
Russia, a mediator in the conflict, has stepped up efforts to spur
the peace process between the two ex-Soviet Caucasus states. Media
reports said the Kremlin fears a failure in the negotiations could
hamper arms and other trade contracts with Azerbaijan.
Medvedev and Aliyev also attended the opening of a bridge across the
river in Ulyanovsk, 893 kilometers (555 miles) east of Moscow. The
Russian leader hailed Geidar Aliyev’s contribution to the city’s
development, saying the bridge, designed in the 1980s, was "a monument
of kinds" to him.
"I am happy that our countries continue their successful cooperation
today," Aliyev said at the bridge ceremony. "We have maintained very
close contacts as presidents, regarding our relations as strategic
and as those of friends and neighbors."
After the Munich talks on Sunday, French mediator Bernard Fassier
said "some important progress" had been reached but outlined certain
"difficulties."
Aliyev warned ahead of the talks that Baku does not rule out the use of
force to tackle the Karabakh conflict if no progress is made in Munich.
It was the first meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders
after Armenia and Turkey, Azerbaijan’s Muslim ally, signed in October
accords to restore diplomatic ties and reopen borders.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
