Premature to end Gabala radar negotiations - Baku
BAKU. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The Russian decision to stop using the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan is not final, deputy head of the foreign policy analysis department at the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rovshan Ibragimov told Interfax.
"The decision had been expected for a long time. Time had expired; Russia rejected new terms and realities and decided to quit the radar. Yet I think this is not the end of the Gabala story and it may continue," he said.
Ibragimov is confident that Russia needs the Gabala radar. "I think there will be more negotiations. Besides, a bad example is contagious, and other former Soviet republics may follow the example of Azerbaijan and deny lease of a particular facility to Russia," he said.
The Gabala radar station is an important element of Baku-Moscow relations but it is not the key factor, and the suspended cooperation in Gabala will not affect bilateral relations, he said. "Russia won't spoil relations with Azerbaijan just because of this radar unless there are other reasons for doing that," the expert said.
The Azeri Foreign Ministry reported on Monday that Russia had sent it a note in connection with the dropout from the Gabala radar.
