At the GUAM group conference in Kyiv on 23 May, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said that energy issues would dominate the relations of the four member states (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova), Interfax reported the same day. According to him, “the energy factor…will influence decision making greatly.” Aliev also noted that the region’s economy would benefit from the resolution of regional transportation issues. He also highlighted the importance of combating separatism and terrorism in the region, saying that the struggle against terrorism could not be won by fighting it alone. In a thinly veiled reference to Azerbaijan’s, Georgia’s and Moldova’s ongoing land disputes, he noted that the territorial integrity of three of the four member states had been breached, and that the offending countries have “not yet been subjected to international condemnation,” nor have any sanctions been taken against them. (www.day.az, www.interfax.ru, May 23)