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  • Point-Blank Denial

    WPS Agency, Russia
    DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
    March 13, 2009 Friday


    POINT-BLANK DENIAL

    by Nikolai Filchenko

    SERGEI LAVROV WENT TO BAKU, AZERBAIJAN, TO DENY ANTI-RUSSIAN RUMORS;
    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is visiting Azerbaijan to deny a
    Russian-Armenian arms deal worth $800 million.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with Azerbaijani
    leaders in Baku later today. Lavrov will discuss Nagorno-Karabakh
    settlement with his opposite number Elmar Mamedjarov and President
    Ilham Aliyev. Along with everything else, Lavrov is expected to allay
    official Baku's fears concerning the future Strategic Response
    Collective Forces of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization
    and deny alleged transfer of $800 million worth of military hardware
    to Armenia.

    Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders Serj Sargsjan and Aliyev met in
    Castle Meyendorf, residence of President Dmitry Medvedev near Moscow,
    in November. Arranged on Medvedev's initiative, the meeting culminated
    in a joint declaration concerning peaceful settlement of the conflict
    over Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia hailed its signing as a major diplomatic
    victory. Indeed, the declaration became the first document the warring
    sides signed in the last 18 years.

    After the meeting, however, Yerevan and Baku never missed an
    opportunity to accuse each other of escalation of tension in the
    conflict area. Also importantly, each warring side did its best to
    secure international support.

    Knowing all too well that any serious progress is out of the question
    at this point, official Moscow is determined to try and persuade
    Armenia and Azerbaijan to abstain from forcing the issue. Lavrov will
    acquaint Aliyev with Russia's latest initiative. To be more exact, he
    will offer assistance in organization of another meeting between the
    presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

    The OSCE Minsk Group has been considering organization of
    Azerbaijani-Armenian talks at the highest level within the framework
    of the EU summit in the Czech Republic on May 7, one dedicated to the
    Eastern Partnership initiative. Moscow will offer to organize the
    meeting on the premises of the Embassy of Russia in Prague. If
    Azerbaijan and Armenia accept the offer, Moscow will be given another
    opportunity and reason to declare its constructive contribution to
    Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

    Before going down to peacekeeping initiatives, however, Russia will
    have to address the problems that cropped up in the relations with
    Azerbaijan. A scandal marred the bilateral relations between Baku and
    Moscow in the middle of February. It was sparked by reports in the
    Azerbaijani media on the $800 million worth of Russian military aid to
    Armenia. The news provoked a brief information war between Azerbaijan
    and Russia. It even included an interview with runaway Russian
    oligarch Boris Berezovsky featured by www.day.az where he said that
    Russian Premier Vladimir Putin was a multimillionaire.

    Lavrov will certainly try and dispel Baku's suspicions concerning
    transfer of weapons and military hardware to Armenia.

    The decision of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization to
    establish the Strategic Response Collective Forces made this February
    is another issue bound to be on the agenda of the talks in Baku. When
    documents on establishment of the Strategic Response Collective Forces
    were signed in Moscow, Azerbaijan decided that this structure might be
    used to promote the interests of Armenia, its adversary in the
    conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Some hotheads even suggested a
    counter-move i.e. establishment of an analogous structure within GUAM
    (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova).

    Lavrov announced on the eve of his departure for Baku that Azerbaijan
    had no reasons to fear the Strategic Response Collective Forces. "All
    these fears are absolutely groundless," he said. "Unlike NATO's fast
    response forces, the Strategic Response Collective Forces will only
    operate on the territories of member states. Even the decision to
    deploy them is to be made by presidents unanimously."

    Source: Kommersant, March 12, 2009, p. 8
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