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Post-Soviet leaders gather for 20th anniv, but acrimony spoils mood

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  • Post-Soviet leaders gather for 20th anniv, but acrimony spoils mood

    Newser.com
    Sept 3 2011


    Post-Soviet leaders gather for 20th anniversary summit, but acrimony
    spoils mood


    Post-Soviet leaders' summit soured by disputes
    By OLGA TUTUBALINA | Associated Press | 15 hours, 41 minutes ago in World


    Leaders from eight former Soviet states gathered Saturday to celebrate
    enduring cooperation over the two decades since their nations
    collectively gained independence, but mutual acrimony and
    recriminations cast a shadow over the event.

    The heads of state from the Commonwealth of Independent States, a
    loose association of ex-Soviet republics, ended the summit in the
    capital of Tajikistan by signing a declaration calling for peaceful
    conflict resolution among member states and the creation of a free
    trade zone.

    The summit took place against the backdrop of a simmering row over
    natural gas prices between Russia and Ukraine. The Armenian and
    Azerbaijani delegations also exchanged frosty remarks about their
    long-running dispute over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an authoritarian whose
    government is also at odds with Moscow over gas prices, did not turn
    up at all. Other no-shows included the presidents of Azerbaijan and
    Uzbekistan.

    Attendees included Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Kazakhstan's
    President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Krgyz President Roza Otunbayeva.

    A lackluster summit will likely only serve to deepen misgivings over
    future of the 11-nation CIS, an organization created in the dying days
    of the Soviet Union as a forum for dialogue. The Tajikistan summit
    appeared more than anything to act as a venue for airing mutual
    grievances and frustration with the West.

    Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried Saturday to quash
    suggestions that Russian gas monopoly Gazprom might be allowed to take
    over Ukraine's pipeline network in exchange for a deal on lower gas
    prices.

    Ukraine is piling pressure on Russia to reduce prices for its gas,
    saying that an 2009 import contract contradicts an earlier deal and
    must be revised.

    Russian news agency Interfax cited Yanukovych as saying settling the
    gas price issue will have to become before any other commercial
    negotiations can take place.

    The prospect of another standoff over gas prices causes alarm in
    Western Europe, which relies on Russia for a quarter of its gas needs.
    Some 80 percent of the gas bound for Western Europe is carried through
    Ukrainian pipelines.

    Ukraine wants to reduce the amount of gas it buys from Russian by
    one-third to 27 billion cubic meters annually. The current contract
    requires Ukraine to pay for at least 33 billion cubic meters of gas
    per year, regardless of the quantity it actually imports.

    During the plenary session, Medvedev sharply criticized the election
    monitoring body of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
    Europe, a trans-Atlantic rights group. Virtually all elections held in
    the CIS since the fall of the Soviet Union have been deemed unfair by
    the OSCE, fostering much resentment among the former Soviet nations.

    "All of us try to hold free and democratic elections. But this does
    not give a free hand to any outside force to form the domestic
    situation in our countries," Medvedev said.

    Azerbaijan's Prime Minster Artur Rasizade reacted angrily to an
    address in which Armenian president Serge Sarkisian praised the people
    of Nagorno-Karabakh for what he described as their struggle for
    self-determination.

    Armenia gained effective control over most of the breakaway territory
    that lies within the territory of Azerbaijan after a bitter war
    between the countries that ended in 1994, leaving 30,000 dead and more
    than 1 million displaced.

    "Once again, there has been another demonstration of Armenia's
    unconstructive position in the settlement of this difficult and
    protracted conflict," Rasizade said.

    In the spirit of the uneasy mood that appears to have prevailed at the
    summit, Rasizade also tartly admonished Tajik President Emomali
    Rakhmon's repeated references to the "Republic of Azerbaijan."

    "We're not the Republic of Azerbaijan, we're the Azerbaijani Republic,
    by the way," he said.

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Peter Leonard in Moscow contributed to this report.

    http://www.newser.com/article/d9ph0tu00/post-soviet-leaders-gather-for-20th-anniversary-summit-but-acrimony-spoils-mood.html

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