Yushchenko's election collapse predictable - Russian MP.

MOSCOW, January 18 (Itar-Tass) - Collapse of Ukraine's Incumbent
President Viktor Yushchenko at the presidential election predictable and
natural, said Leonid Slutsky, the first deputy head of the State Duma's
international affairs committee.

"Yushchenko's collapse is an expectable result. Nobody doubted that
the orange president era and consequently the course for confrontation
with Russia in Ukraine's policy has been over," he told Itar-Tass.
Slutsky expressed confidence that irrespective of who will rule
Ukraine either Timoshenko or Yanukovich Russian-Ukrainian relations will
considerably improve.
"We are opening the page of more pragmatic relations. It will be much
easier to agree and there will be no intention to create provocations and
heat up tensions," the parliamentarian said.
The head of Ukraine's opposition Party of Regions, Viktor Yanukovich,
leads the country's presidential election with 33.99 percent of votes,
according to the first preliminary results from the central election
commission.
Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko comes second with 29.50 percent.
The election returns cannot be considered legally competent as only
0.5 percent of protocols from the election commissions have been processed.
The counting of votes continues in Ukraine.


.Black Sea Fleet should be within new security concept- Yanukovich.

KIEV, January 18 (Itar-Tass) - The issue of the Russian Black Sea
Fleet's presence in Ukraine should be considered in the context of a new
security concept, said Viktor Yanukovich, the head of Ukraine's opposition
Party of Regions, who leads the presidential race.
"At present, this issue is the most pressing one taking into account
the preparation of a new security concept initiated by Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev and supported by French President Nicolas Sarkozy," he
said.
Yanukovich stressed that "Ukraine will participate in this project."
"And we will see where the Black Sea Fleet will find its place," he said.



.Medvedev, Sargsyan to discuss bilateral problems, Karabakh.

MOSCOW, January 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
will hold talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan who will
begins his working visit to Moscow on Monday, the Kremlin's press service
said.
The two leaders will focus on bilateral relations and the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement. In particular, they will eye an opportunity
for holding a tripartite meeting on the problem with participation of
Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev.
"During the visit a tripartite meeting among the presidents of
Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan will be discussed," the Armenian president'
s spokesman, Samvel Farmanian, said. "Russia as a co-chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabakh takes serious mediation efforts to resolve
the conflict and Armenia highly appreciates these efforts."
"The two countries' leaders will also continue a high-level political
dialogue and discuss cooperation of the two countries, which are strategic
partners, as well as regional problems," the spokesman said.
This meeting will be the first one this year. In 2009 Medvedev and
Sargsyan held seven meetings.
The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict tops the agenda of the
high-level talks and meetings. In February 1988 the Nagorno Karabakh
Autonomous Region announced its intention to secede from Azerbaijan and
join Armenia, which waged the armed conflict in the region in 1991-1994.
The negotiating process was launched by Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan
and Armenia on September 23, 1991. In March 1992 at Moscow's initiative
the OSCE Minsk Group that brought together 12 countries was created. At
present, the negotiations are held within the framework of this Group that
is co-chaired by Russia, the U.S. and France. In 1999 Baku and Yerevan
began a high-level direct dialogue. In 2009 the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents held nine meetings.
On November 2, 2008, at the initiative of Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Moscow to
adopt a declaration defining the principles of the conflict settlement.
This was the first document signed by the conflicting parties almost for
15 years.
During the whole negotiating process the parties' positions remained
unchanged. Azerbaijan insists on liberation of its territories and the
return of refugees and is ready to give a high autonomy status to Nagorno
Karabakh within its borders.
Armenia seeks clarification of Nagorno Karabakh's political status
(subordination to Azerbaijan is ruled out) and its international
recognition.
Russia believes that Armenia and Azerbaijan have to reach mutual
political and diplomatic understanding. Moreover, Moscow repeatedly
announced that it was ready to be a guarantor in the conflict settlement.
Aside from the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement the
Russian-Armenian talks will focus on economic issues and cooperation in
energy, chemical industry, metallurgy and diamond processing.
Russia is Armenia's major trade partner. In 2008 the bilateral trade
reached 900 million U.S. dollars. The two countries set the task to boost
the trade to 1 billion U.S. dollars, but the recession reduced the output
by 20 percent.

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