Medvedev to hold meeting on Karabakh settlement.

MOSCOW, July 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russian president Dmitry Medvedev will
hold talks on Saturday with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and
President of Azerbaijan Ilkham Aliyev. They will be held after "horse
races for the Russian president's prize" which will be attended by the
leaders of CIS countries, as well as Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

On Friday, Sargsyan and Aliyev already held a separate meeting. It
became the sixth round of the direct talks of the sides that had been
launched in St. Petersburg on June 6, 2008, in Zurich on January 28 this
year and in Prague - on May 7, and the latest meeting was held in St.
Petersburg on June 4.
"Taking into account the positive impulse that the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement process has received recently, the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan expressed interest in the continuation of such kind of
meetings," Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko noted. "We value the
leadership's open approach and support this process," the diplomat said
expressing confidence that "the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem
is possible in the foreseeable future."
He believes that the leaders will continue discussing the basic
principles of the Karabakh settlement. "The joint statement of the
presidents of Russia, the US and France on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
made at the G8 summit on July 10, 2009 will give a boost to this process,"
Prikhodko said, recalling that the three leaders promised support to
Azerbaijan and Armenia in completing the approval of the settlement
principles and instructed the mediators from each of the OSCE Minsk Group
member country to provide the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia with an
updated version of the Madrid document of November 29, 2007 that contains
proposals on how to formulate the basic principles.
Intensified Azerbaijani-Armenian public contacts should also
facilitate the settlement process. The heads of state may exchange views
on the results of the July 3 trip to Nagorno-Karabakh by a delegation of
Azerbaijani and Armenian intellectuals led by the two countries'
ambassadors to Russia, with the mediation of the Kremlin's special envoy
Mikhail Shvydkov.
"Russia's position of principle on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is
to refrain from imposing any external recipes upon the parties to the
conflict, assuming that the main responsibility for the final choice
should rest with the people of Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves," the
official said.
"Russia would be prepared to support a solution that will satisfy all
parties involved, and if a compromise is reached, act as a guarantor of
the settlement," he said.
According to Russia, "that solution would be viable that will bring
stability and calm into the Transcaucasia, and will help preserve the
traditional balance of force there in the post-conflict period," Pirkhodko
said.
"The upcoming trilateral meeting is called upon to confirm Russia's
intention to continue active mediation and assistance to the parties in
order to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem, including within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group," he said.
Asked whether any documents will be signed at the meeting, Prikhodko
said, "No such goal has been set."
"We are working hard to produce decisions that should be acceptable to
Azerbaijan and Armenia. The main thing is to promote this process and
bring closer the positions of both sides," he said.
According to Prikhodko, the parties are not planning to hold a press
conference after their meeting. At the same time, he said the talks would
not be covered by a veil of secrecy.
This will be the sixth round of direct talks between the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia. The talks began on June 6, 2008 in St. Petersburg.
After that, the two leaders met in Barvikha on November 2, 2008, Zurich on
January 28, 29009. Prague on May 7, 2009 and in St. Petersburg on June 4,
2009.
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.Medvedev, CIS leaders to watch RF president prize horse race.

MOSCOW, July 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will
visit on Saturday the Central Moscow Hippodrome where horse races for the
Russian president's prize will be held. The leaders of a number of CIS
countries, as well as the leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will
attend the races together with Medvedev.
In particular, Presidents of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and of Azerbaijan
Ilkham Aliyev, have confirmed their intention to attend the races. They
arrived in the Russian capital on Friday and have already held talks on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. They are expected to hold one
more meeting on Saturday, but in a three-sided format - with the
participation of Medvedev.
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has confirmed his
participation in the races. Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko
said earlier that he will possibly hold a working meeting with Medvedev.
"The conversation will be held on the bilateral cooperation, interaction
within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC)," the RF
presidential aide said.
Besides, Medvedev's bilateral meeting with Tajikistani President
Emomali Rakhmon is not ruled out, as well as his contacts with Moldovan
President Vladimir Voronin who has already confirmed his visit to Russia.
"I will take part in the horse races in Moscow on July 18 for the Russian
president's prize," he said. "These competitions are kind of informal
meeting of the CIS heads of state; I will go to Moscow in order to discuss
at this meeting a number of urgent issues," Voronin noted.
President of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh and Head of South Ossetia Eduard
Kokoity have also been invited to the event. "Kokoity and Bagapsh will
attend the races, they both love horses," Prikhodko said.
The RF presidential aide noted that all presidents of CIS countries
have been invited to the event. "We traditionally sent invitations to all
the CIS presidents, except Georgia," the diplomat pointed out. According
to him, Moscow realises that some leaders will not be able to find the
time in their working schedule and will not arrive. In particular,
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was not going to attend the
event.
The heads of Russian regions that on Friday gathered for the RF State
Council meeting in Moscow are also expected to be invited to the horse
races. Kremlin officials said that the invitation to the horse races "is a
certain attempt to revive the tradition of such cultural-humanitarian
events."
In Moscow horse races began to be held in the late 18th century on
Donskoye field and from 1834 - on Khodynskoye field. The horse race
entertainment has proved to be attractive and interesting and became one
of the favourite entertainments of Muscovites for many decades. Horses
from all Russian provinces and other countries, even the United States, we
brought to Moscow for races. "If this becomes a tradition, we will only
welcome it," an official of the Kremlin administration told Itar-Tass in
2004 when the horse races for the Russian president's prize were held for
the first time in the country's newest history. Earlier, competitions of
such level were held only before the October Revolution. Last time the
Russian Emperor's Prize was contested in 1916.
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