Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 April / Trend corr S. Agayeva/ The Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM calls on Russia to cooperation. Russia should not avoid cooperation with GUAM. It must cooperate actively in regional, economic and other projects, GUAM Secretary General Valeri Chechelashvili said to journalists on 16 April.
"WE could cooperate on the projects such as creation of free economic zone, establishment of the GUAM bank, as well as within the framework of the Council on Struggle against Terrorism and Organized Crime," Chechelashvili said.
According to the Secretary General, there is no single line in the GUAM Charter that is intended against Russia. Chechelashvili noted that Russia plays a great role and could contribute in settlement of the conflicts on-going in GUAM countries. " Russia is an active layer in this field and it is not a secret that Russia is interested in settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Georgian-Ossetian, Georgian-Abkhazian and Trans-Dniester conflicts. The sooner and more efficiently all these conflicts are solved with participation of Russia, the better it will be for the development of all countries in the region," Chechelashvili said.
Four post-Soviet republics; Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, established the GUAM format in 1997 during a summit of presidents of European Union countries in Strasburg. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the organization but left four years later. In 2006, at the first summit of the organization in Kiev, a decision was made to announce GUAM as an international organization with a new name 'Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM'.
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