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Tbilisi: "In their sights"

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  • Tbilisi: "In their sights"

    The Messenger, Georgia
    Feb 4 2005

    "In their sights"

    According to the Russian newspaper Gazeta SNG, an Azeri-Georgian
    agreement regarding the prohibition of cargo delivery to Armenia is
    directed not against the transportation of illegal foreign goods into
    Armenia, but toward further isolating the nation from Russia.
    The paper also refers to the "Carpathian Declaration" signed recently
    between Ukraine and Georgia, which is directed at the expansion of
    the GUUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
    Moldavia) with the aim to attract Poland and Turkey-NATO members-to
    this bloc.
    The paper writes that the situation is aggravated by the fact that
    Russian military bases in Armenia are isolated from the Russian
    Federation because there is no agreement regarding the transit of
    soldiers and military materials between Russia and Georgia.
    According to Gazeta SNG, such transport cannot take place through
    either Azerbaijan or Turkey. "Though, everything can be implemented
    though Iran, within the framework of a binding Soviet-Iranian
    agreement regarding friendship and cooperation, but this way is more
    hypothetical than practical given the long distance," the paper
    notes.
    According to Gazeta SNG, it is possible that the aggravation of the
    relations of the Russian Federation with Georgia and Azerbaijan
    because of the mentioned agreement is part of a plan to lay the
    groundwork for American-Israeli military actions against Iran.
    Russia's response to the agreement may be to increase its military
    presence in Armenia and the Caspian Basin, while in Tbilisi and Baku
    this certainly will be perceived as a threat to national security and
    be followed by the United States and NATO increasing their military
    presence in the Caucasus and Turkey.
    This will complicate Moscow's relations with Ukraine and South
    Caucasian countries, the paper states. The Russian Federation has no
    reliable military-political allies in this region aside from Armenia.
    "In any case, the Russian leadership is not about to risk developing
    the military sector of the relations with Iran and Turkmenistan at
    the present time," the paper writes.
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