Putin won’t meet PACE election observers February 9, 2012 - 19:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not intend to meet with representatives from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) who have arrived in Russia to observe the presidential election, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to RIA Novosti. “There is no such meeting in Putin’s schedule,” Peskov said. The PACE observers arrived in Moscow yesterday. They will assess Russia's electoral legislation and electoral campaigns leading up to the March 4 vote. On Thursday the observers plan to meet with members of the Russian delegation to PACE and presidential candidates. A meeting with Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), has already taken place. The observers are scheduled to meet later with Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and Sergei Mironov, leader of A Just Russia. On February 10 the PACE representatives will meet with billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov and ombudsman Vladimir Lukin. They had also expected to meet with Putin, who is running for president as the candidate for the ruling United Russia party. This is the first mission by PACE observers monitoring the Russian election. The second mission, consisting of 30 people, will come to Russia just before the March 4 vote.   Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity  The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization.Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia.Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty.Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |
