Russia urges quick Azeri-Armenian land dispute settlement

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for speedy settlement of an Azeri-Armenian land dispute around the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region during a visit to Azerbaijan Friday.

"We are interested in peace and order here," Medvedev said while meeting his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, in Baku.

Azerbaijian lost Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia in an armed conflict in the early 1990s. Though a ceasefire was declared in 1994, a peace deal has still not been agreed.

"Russia is ready to fulfill her obligations as a member of the Minsk group and as a neighbor," Medvedev said.

The Minsk group was created in 1992 under the umbrella of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to facilitate the settlement of the dispute. The group also includes the United States and France.

The Azeri president called Moscow-Baku relations a strategic partnership, describing them as "sincere and good-neighborly, secured for many years to come."

Both sides emphasized the need to improve bilateral trade and to seek new ideas and projects for economic cooperation.

Russian gas giant Gazprom has signed a deal with the Azeri state oil company to buy more than 2 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas by 2012, four times higher than the volumes agreed initially in 2009 when shipments began.

Moscow said it was ready to purchase 100 percent of locally produced blue fuel as an alternative to the Nabucco pipeline bypassing Russia.

"We have never considered any gas projects as a baseless competition. We are satisfied with the existing conditions," Aliyev said, insisting that Baku did not want to make gas a political issue.

Medvedev thanked the Azeri government for extending "a hand of friendship" in putting out the wildfires in central Russia last month.

Medvedev was awarded an Honorable Doctorate from Baku State University to recognize his efforts to promote Russian-Azeri friendship.

Source: Xinhua