BAKU. May 25 (Interfax) - The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on the statement by an unnamed Russian defense official over a possible refusal from the lease of Gabala radar station.
"I will not comment on the statement by an unnamed Russian defense official," Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told reporters on Thursday.
"Azerbaijan and Russia continue talks over this matter at experts' level," he said without elaborating.
A source close to the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that that the ministry is disappointed by Azerbaijan's unconstructive approach to the negotiation of the lease terms of the Gabala radar.
The Daryal radar, which has a status of an information analytical center, is located in the Gabala district and is the property of Azerbaijan. The facility was leased to Russia for a ten-year period under a bilateral agreement ratified by the Azeri and Russian parliament in 2002. The lease costs $7 million a year. The current lease expires in 2012.
It was reported earlier that at the talks in Baku in July 2011 Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov agreed on the drafting of a new lease contract for the radar in the Azeri town of Gabala.