Russia, Kazakhstan downplay concerns over Baikonur spaceport dispute
By Aynur Jafarova
Kazakhstan and Russia are working at the Baikonur cosmodrome in
a normal mode, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a
press conference following a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart
Erlan Idrisov, Azerbaijani news agency Trend reported on
Friday.
"Discussing the number of launches is a normal working process. We
go through this process every year," Lavrov said regarding the work
on the satellite launch facility located in the Central Asian
state.
Earlier, in 2013, Kazakhstan allowed Russia to launch only 12 Proton-M carrier rockets from Baikonur instead of the 17 requested launches. Kazakhstan explained this limit by a negative environmental impact of the launches.
Lavrov also said official notes are a normal way of discussion between the two countries.
Russia earlier sent two diplomatic notes on Baikonur to Kazakhstan. The first note demanded to explain the statements of the head of Kazakhstan's National Space Agency Talgat Musabayev, who earlier said Kazakhstan and Russia are working out a new agreement to gradually edge away from lease-based relations over the Baikonur cosmodrome and that Baikonur city may be transferred to Kazakhstan's jurisdiction.
In its second note, Russia informed Kazakhstan it could stop working on all joint projects unless Astana permits launches from the cosmodrome it had planned.
The Kazakh FM, in turn, said there was no scandal or break-up in the relations between Kazakhstan and Russia.
According to Idrisov, some media reports on worsening of the relations between the two countries have no merit.
Idrisov in an interview with Russian newspaper Commersant stressed that Kazakhstan will not stop cooperating with Russia on work at the Baikonur cosmodrome.
"Russia is a major space power. Therefore, any arguments and assertions regarding a stop in the cooperation are preposterous," Idrisov said.
Touching upon the statements of Musabayev, Idrisov said they were misunderstood by journalists.
"The presidents of our countries appreciate and cherish Baikonur as a symbol of our close and mutually beneficial cooperation. The cosmodrome is a project focusing on the future. I hope there will be no more unresolved issues in this sphere," Idrisov said.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is leased by the Kazakh government to Russia until 2050 and is managed jointly by the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Russian Space Forces. Russia pays Kazakhstan $115 million annually for the use of the facility.