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UKRAINE, AZERBAIJAN LEADERS NOT TO ATTEND CIS SUMMIT FRIDAY
RIA Novosti
13:59 | 09/ 10/ 2008
BISHKEK, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - The presidents of Ukraine and
Azerbaijan will not attend the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) summit in Kyrgyzstan on Friday, the Central Asian state's envoy
to the post-Soviet alliance said Thursday.
Lidiya Imanaliyeva said Ukraine would be represented by National
Security and Defense Council officials, and Azerbaijan by its prime
minister.
Ukraine plunged deeper into a political crisis as President Viktor
Yushchenko dissolved parliament late Wednesday and set an early
poll for December 7, the third since the 2004 "Orange Revolution"
that brought him to power.
Imanaliyeva said Azerbaijan's leader, Ilkham Aliyev, was sending
his prime minister as he was campaigning to win a second term in the
October 15 presidential elections.
Kyrgyzstan holds the organization's rotating presidency this year.
The CIS comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine is a founding and
participating country but technically not a member state. Turkmenistan
holds associate status.
Georgia notified the CIS executive committee of its desire to quit the
Russian-dominated organization on August 18, 2008 after a five-day war
with Russia over the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Its
withdrawal will come into effect next August.
The CIS leaders are expected to discuss an economic development
strategy until 2020.
RIA Novosti
13:59 | 09/ 10/ 2008
BISHKEK, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - The presidents of Ukraine and
Azerbaijan will not attend the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) summit in Kyrgyzstan on Friday, the Central Asian state's envoy
to the post-Soviet alliance said Thursday.
Lidiya Imanaliyeva said Ukraine would be represented by National
Security and Defense Council officials, and Azerbaijan by its prime
minister.
Ukraine plunged deeper into a political crisis as President Viktor
Yushchenko dissolved parliament late Wednesday and set an early
poll for December 7, the third since the 2004 "Orange Revolution"
that brought him to power.
Imanaliyeva said Azerbaijan's leader, Ilkham Aliyev, was sending
his prime minister as he was campaigning to win a second term in the
October 15 presidential elections.
Kyrgyzstan holds the organization's rotating presidency this year.
The CIS comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine is a founding and
participating country but technically not a member state. Turkmenistan
holds associate status.
Georgia notified the CIS executive committee of its desire to quit the
Russian-dominated organization on August 18, 2008 after a five-day war
with Russia over the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Its
withdrawal will come into effect next August.
The CIS leaders are expected to discuss an economic development
strategy until 2020.