The Orenburg Regional Court has begun hearing the state prosecution's appeal in the 6-million-ruble bribe case involving former senator Rauf Arashukov. The prosecution is seeking to increase the fine for the former official, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, from 120 million to 420 million rubles.
It is difficult to say what other mediators can offer, but both the Americans and the Europeans are doing their best to strengthen their influence in the South Caucasus by offering their platforms for negotiations.
On October 6, the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, France and the head of the European Council met in Prague. As a result of the meeting, a statement was adopted in which Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized mutual territorial integrity and confirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and the Almaty Declaration of 1991, which effectively formalized the collapse of the USSR and proclaimed the sovereignty of the Transcaucasian republics.
In addition, Armenia agreed to host EU observers. The EU mission, which does not include Russian representatives, left for the Armenian-Azerbaijani border at the end of October to patrol. Forty EU observers will monitor the situation on the Armenian side of the border “with the aim of building confidence and support for the border commissions.”