Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The first meeting of the Azerbaijan-Russia joint commission to discuss the closure of the Gabala radar station is planned for February, Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said at a briefing on Wednesday, Trend news agency reported.

The session will discuss technical issues concerning the closure of the Gabala radar station.

From the Azerbaijani side, the commission is co-chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov.

The Gabala radar station was built as one of the most important elements of the USSR's missile defense system. After Azerbaijan gained independence, the radar station became the country's property but Russia continued to use it.

The Russian side delivered a note on halting the exploitation of the Gabala radar station as of December 10, 2012 in connection with the expiration a day earlier of the relevant agreement with the Azerbaijani government.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has formally confirmed halting the use of the facility.

Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the issue of Gabala radar station lease will be no longer discussed.

"Our Azerbaijani friends decided not to give in, and we considered the price too high," he said.

A Russian military source recently said that the decision on the suspension of Russia's operation of the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan is prompted, first of all, by the absence of a need for its practical use and that new generation radar stations of Voronezh type are now available that could replace the outdated Gabala radar station, RIA Novosti reported.

"All the tasks that were previously vested in the Gabala radar station can be assumed by the new generation radar Voronezh-DM, a missile warning system created by technology of high operational compatibility in Armavir, Krasnodar province," said the source at the Russian Ministry of Defense.