AZERBAIJAN:

The president of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, told a news conference that the Russian Duma was wrong to seek culprits for the USSR’s collapse. "The Union fell apart as a result of objective historical, social, and political processes," Aliyev observed. "Azerbaijan will never deviate from the path of independence" which is an "irreversible path," Aliyev said. (Interfax, Russian TV, March 16 & 17)

Armenia: