Russian gas giant Gazprom and Azerbaijan's state oil and gas company will sign a deal to increase supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Russia in 2011-2012 during the Russian president's visit to Baku on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported. READ MORE

When during the meetings in Strasbourg and Kiel (in April 2009) the leaders of NATO decided to start discussions on a new strategic concept of NATO, nobody expected easy agreements.  Nevertheless all the countries of the Alliance agreed that the key goal of NATO should be the establishment of the secure political environment. READ MORE

Azerbaijani Parliament Deputy Speaker called for increased Russian role in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku on Saturday. READ MORE

Over the past decade, Russia has made repeated attempts to demonstrate its growing power to the world. There are two main objectives behind these attempts: to obtain international recognition as a superpower and to coerce other states into partnership. Both goals are based on the political elite’s belief that Russia should be included on that list a priori by virtue of its huge territory, nuclear arsenal and economic potential. READ MORE