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Georgian border closure not to affect Russian-Armenian relations

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  • Georgian border closure not to affect Russian-Armenian relations

    Georgian border closure not to affect Russian-Armenian relations - paper

    Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
    6 Oct 04

    Text of Vardan Grigoryan report by Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkarh
    on 6 October "Situation at Verkhniy Lars and around it"

    The fact that hundreds of lorries bound for Armenia have been stranded
    at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border is
    being assessed differently.

    The situation was created after the incredible terrorist act in Beslan
    when the Russian leadership decided to close land borders with Georgia
    and Azerbaijan. But this has affected Armenia more than the countries
    mentioned. It turns out that due to limited communication
    opportunities and the blockade imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan,
    Armenia has found itself in this situation "through no fault of its
    own".

    It has nothing in common with the rumours disseminated recently that
    allegedly by closing the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the
    Russian-Georgian border, Russia is trying to punish Armenia along with
    Georgia for cooperation with NATO or for the intention to send
    Armenian servicemen to Iraq. If Russia had really wanted to punish
    Armenia, it could undoubtedly have found more effective levers.

    This forcible step taken by Russia in the context of the antiterror
    fight has created a very contradictory situation in both
    Russian-Georgian and Armenian-Georgian relations.

    The speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian State Duma, Sergey
    Mironov, who was in Yerevan recently, promised that the situation
    would be settled. Moreover, he hinted that the problem of the
    Transcaucasus railway link to Sukhumi would be also
    settled. Certainly, it is a very pleasant piece of news for Armenia,
    but at present the settlement of such a complex problem is coming up
    against the political dispute about the return of Georgian refugees to
    Gali District, as well as the fact that the Sukhumi-Zugdidi sector of
    the railway is badly damaged.

    A question arises: Are these measures of Russia fruitful while it is
    evident that terrorists penetrate this country through mountains and
    gorges? Georgia, which has sea ports and receives large western loans,
    does not at all submit to Russia's requests to capture and extradite
    them [terrorists] to Russia. Thus, the problem is not in closing the
    Verkhniy Lars checkpoint but in turning the measures against Georgia
    into "targeted" ones. We think that in this context economic and
    political steps could be taken which will not directly affect
    Armenia's interests. This gives us the hope that they will finally
    find mutually acceptable solutions that will take Armenian cargo
    transportation out of this misunderstanding.

    By the way, the closure of the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint may be used by
    some forces to call into question Russian-Armenian strategic
    partnership. Certain political forces in Armenia are interested in
    this, they are spreading incredible rumours about Moscow-Yerevan
    relations and politicizing the problem. But the majority of the public
    understand that the situation created at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint
    is not that problem which can cast doubt on Armenian-Russian strategic
    partnership. Russia is not the country which Armenia can have problems
    with because of this kind of incidents. Thus, we are sure that today's
    search for mutually advantageous options to resolve the situation
    created around the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint will yield positive
    results and thwart all attempts to discredit Armenian-Russian
    relations.
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