Medvedev, Aliyev to sign strategic partnership declaration

MOSCOW, July 4 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation (RF) goes to Baku to denote the new outlines of the development of strategic Russo-Azerbaijani cooperation. His official visit is made from July 3 to 4.

Medvedev is well acquainted with both President Ilkham Aliyev of
Azerbaijan and with the country proper: As head of the Kremlin
administration he visited Baku in summer 2005. Early in June, on the
sidelines of the XII Petersrburg international economic forum, the first
talks were held between the leaders of the two countries.

"During that forum, the Presidents planned out the main subjects for
discussion in Baku," Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko has told
Itar-Tass. Medvedev and Aliyev "have developed good friendly relations,"
Prikhodko added.

"To Russia, Azerbaijan is a strategic partner in the Southern Caucasus
and in the Caspian Sea area for the long term," Prikhodko said. He is
convinced that "The trip by the Russian Head of State and the forthcoming
contacts at summit level are an evidence of the dynamically developing
versatile Russo-Azerbaijani dialogue".

"A Declaration of Friendship and Strategic Partnership between
Russia and Azerbaijan is to be signed as a result of Russo-Azerbaijani
talks at summit level. The Declaration will determine basic orientations
for bilateral interaction in the coming period. A number of inter-agency
documents are also to be signed by the Foreign and Interior Ministries,
the Federal Customs Service, and the Rosimushchestvo (Federal Agency for
Management of State Property) and the respective Azerbaijani ministries
and agencies," the presidential aide said.

"In Baku, the sides are to have an in-depth exchange of views on
various aspects of bilateral cooperation, as well as on international
problems of current concern," Prikhodko said.
"The President of the RF has given an exceptionally high appraisal of
the development of (bilateral) relations that in recent years have been
developing in a balanced way: not only trade turnover grows but cultural
contacts also gain in scope -- we see an exceptionally high interest in
Russian culture," he emphasized.

"The humanitarian component of bilateral relations will be also the
subject of an interested discussion at summit level. Russia appreciates
support which Ilkham Aliyev gives to the preservation of the
Russian-language educational space in Azerbaijan," the presidential aide
said, recalling that "a branch of Moscow State University named after M.
V. Lomonosov is to open in Baku in the current year".

Prikhodko said that within the framework of the Russian President's
stay in Baku "a meeting with the leaders of religious confessions of
Azerbaijan will be held. Such meetings have already become traditional".
"Those to be present at the meeting will devote much attention to a
discussion of matters concerning inter-confessional interaction, the role
of Islam in world religion, as well as interaction between the State and
religion in the fight against international terrorism," he added.

While in Baku, the Russian President will be accompanied by Sergei
Naryshkin, Head of the Kremlin Administration, Sergei Lavrov, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Sergei Prikhodko, presidential aide, Rashid Nurgaliyev,
Minister of the Interior, Sergei Shmatko, Minister of Energy, Andrei
Belyaninov, Director of the Federal Customs Service, and Yuri Petrov,
Director of the Federal Agency for Management of State Property.
The Russian delegation will also include the governors of Russia's
regions that maintain intensive contacts with Azerbaijan, specifically
those of Dagestan, Kalmykia, and Astrakhan Region.

A large group of businessmen will arrive in Azerbaijan together with
the President, among them Vagit Alekperov, president of LUKOIL, Andrei
Kostin, Chairman of the VTB (foreign-trade bank) Board, Alexei Miller,
Chairman of Gazprom Board, Nikolai Tokarev, CEO of the Transneft Company,
and Vladimir Yakunin, president of the Russian Railways Company.