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CASPIAN MISTAKE
Alexander Gabuev
RusData Dialine - Russian Press Digest
September 8, 2008 Monday
Azeri leadership refused to back U.S.-sponsored Nabucco
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney finished his tour of the South
Caucasus, which was intended to strengthen Washington's positions in
its struggle for Caspian energy resources. The visit he paid to Tbilisi
yesterday went smoothly as expected. However, the talks he held in
Baku Wednesday failed. According to the information of Kommersant,
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev gave his American guest a cold
welcome and sent a clear message that Baku won't support the idea
to redirect the energy resources pipelines so that they would omit
Russia. He came to that conclusion watching the developments in the
neighboring Georgia. Money instead of tanks
On Thursday at 11 a.m. Dick Cheney arrived from Baku in Tbilisi,
where Georgia's Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze. Before the meeting of
the U.S. Vice President with Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili
Georgian Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaya revealed the
talks' agenda to Kommersant. "First, Dick Cheney wants to demonstrate
the U.S. support to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine," he said. "Second,
during the negotiations the parties will discuss the security of
communication lines that allow shipping the Caspian energy resources
to the West omitting Russia."
After the talks in the new residence of Georgia's head-of-state,
Mikheil Saakashvili stated at the joint press-conference, "Georgia
feels the U.S. support, which is strong as never before." The
journalists had a chance to assess the strength of that support
following Dick Cheney's address. The U.S. Vice President said that
Washington allocates $1 billion to restore the Georgian economy. "We
stand in solidarity with the people of Georgia. After your nation
won its freedom in the Rose Revolution, America came to the aid
of this courageous young democracy. We are doing so again, as you
work to overcome an invasion of your sovereign territory - and an
illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country's borders
by force that has been universally condemned by the free world,"
the Vice President stated. "Russia's actions have cast grave doubt on
Russia's intentions and on its reliability as an international partner
- not just in Georgia but across this region and indeed throughout
the international system." Besides, Dick Cheney reiterated that
Washington fully supports Georgia's NATO ambitions. "Georgia will be
in our alliance," he claimed.
Nevertheless, according to the sources of Kommersant in the Georgian
Chancellery, the talks of Mikheil Saakashvili and Dick Cheney didn't
go as smoothly as their press-conference did. The discussion mainly
focused on the security of the existing pipelines, which were laid
in Georgia omitting Russia, and the project of the Trans-Caspian
gas pipeline Nabucco. Dick Cheney made no secret of the fact that
the U.S. is ready to provide the security of these pipelines using
political methods only. So, Georgia won't get military assistance
from the U.S. now.
By the way, Wednesday, U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice made
this position public. "It is not yet time to look at the questions of
assistance on the military side," she stated in Washington. However,
Mikheil Saakashvili declared ready to further support American energy
projects in the region. According to the sources of Kommersant, he
promised to Dick Cheney that Tbilisi will support the Nabucco project
"whatever" in case the U.S. gets the approval of Georgia's neighbors,
Baku, first of all.
The Baku emissary
Meanwhile, according to the information of Kommersant, Dick Cheney's
visit to Azerbaijan he made on Wednesday turned out complete
failure. The guest of honor, who came in Baku for the first time,
was met neither by President Ilham Aliyev nor Prime Minister Artur
Rasizade. Instead, First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyubov and Foreign
Office Chief Elmar Mammadyarov met Dick Cheney in the airport. As
to Ilham Aliyev, he was in no hurry to receive Mr Cheney. That's why
the U.S. Vice President first went to a meeting with BP President in
Azerbaijan Bill Schrader and Chevron Azerbaijan top managers. Then he
visited the U.S. Embassy in Baku and held a meeting with Ambassador
Anne E. Derse. It was not earlier than in the evening that Dick Cheney
went to the residence of Azerbaijan's President.
According to the sources of Kommersant with the Office of Azerbaijan's
President, the talks turned out pretty tough, in spite of the fact that
Dick Cheney and Ilham Aliyev have had close ties since Mr cheney worked
with Halliburton and Mr Aliyev was SOCAR (Azerbaijan's state-run oil
company) Vice President. They discussed the war in Georgia and the
prospects of constructing the Nabucco gas pipeline. According to the
information of Kommersant, Dick Cheney informed Ilham Aliyev that the
U.S. will support its allies in the region and intends to promote the
project of the gas pipeline omitting Russia. Nonetheless, Ilham Aliyev
sent a clear message that although he appreciates the relations with
Washington, he is not going to have a row with Moscow. In fact it
meant that under the present circumstances Baku decided to bide its
time without fostering the Nabucco project. Kommersant interlocutors
with the Presidential Office said that Dick Cheney was irritated by
the outcome of the discussion - he even refused to attend a banquet
in his honor.
Ilham Aliyev's reluctance to support Washington quarreling with
Russia is easy to explain. Baku regrded Tbilisi's definitively losing
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as Russia's tanks entering
Georgia as a signal to everyone in the region who is willing to join
NATO. Azerbaijan's budget incurs great losses: because of the explosion
at the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline on August 12 - Turkey put
the blame on the Kurdistan Workers Party - and the pauses of the work
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and Baku-Supsa oil pipeline,
energy carriers export from Azerbaijan in the western direction was
suspended. At the same time Baku has no claims to Russia. Moreover,
according to the information of Kommersant, Azerbaijan's authorities
expressed their gratitude to the Russian Federation because during
the military operation and bombardments of the Georgian territory no
BTC-related facilities were destroyed.
Nevertheless, Baku can't overhaul its stance towards the pipelines
on the territory of Georgia. Azerbaijan is said to have increased
the workload of the Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipeline. It concluded
that in the present situation it's more secure to transport gas
to Europe via Russia, rather than Georgia and Turkey. Even more
so in June Gazprom offered to buy Azerbaijan's gas at any volumes
according to the European pricing formula. During his visit to Baku
in July Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ilham Aliyev agreed to
launch negotiations concerning the matter. It seems the talks will
be accelerated, just like the pace of Baku and Moscow's developing
closer relations.
The Russian leaders have already started work in this direction. In
the evening after the talks of Dick Cheney and Ilham Aliyev finished,
Dmitry Medvedev called Azerbaijan's President. Sources in the Kremlin
explained to Kommersant the necessity of the telephone conversation
with Dmitry Medvedev's desire to bring home to Ilham Aliyev, one of
the region's most influential players, Russia's position regarding
Georgia. Even more so Azerbaijan has a territorial dispute with
Armenia, which remains unresolved. "Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyanhas
recently visited Moscow and discussed the situation over South
Ossetia and Abkhazia during his talks with Dmitry Medvedev. The
Russian President thought it important to discuss those matters with
the Azerbaijani party as well because Baku belongs neither to SCO
nor CSTO - the organizations Russia has intensified contacts with,"
a source in the Kremlin told Kommersant. In her turn, Press-Secretary
of the Russian President Natalya Timakova told Kommersant that during
their conversation the leader of Russia and Azerbaijan discussed a
possibility of a meeting in the near future.
Alexander Gabuev
RusData Dialine - Russian Press Digest
September 8, 2008 Monday
Azeri leadership refused to back U.S.-sponsored Nabucco
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney finished his tour of the South
Caucasus, which was intended to strengthen Washington's positions in
its struggle for Caspian energy resources. The visit he paid to Tbilisi
yesterday went smoothly as expected. However, the talks he held in
Baku Wednesday failed. According to the information of Kommersant,
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev gave his American guest a cold
welcome and sent a clear message that Baku won't support the idea
to redirect the energy resources pipelines so that they would omit
Russia. He came to that conclusion watching the developments in the
neighboring Georgia. Money instead of tanks
On Thursday at 11 a.m. Dick Cheney arrived from Baku in Tbilisi,
where Georgia's Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze. Before the meeting of
the U.S. Vice President with Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili
Georgian Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaya revealed the
talks' agenda to Kommersant. "First, Dick Cheney wants to demonstrate
the U.S. support to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine," he said. "Second,
during the negotiations the parties will discuss the security of
communication lines that allow shipping the Caspian energy resources
to the West omitting Russia."
After the talks in the new residence of Georgia's head-of-state,
Mikheil Saakashvili stated at the joint press-conference, "Georgia
feels the U.S. support, which is strong as never before." The
journalists had a chance to assess the strength of that support
following Dick Cheney's address. The U.S. Vice President said that
Washington allocates $1 billion to restore the Georgian economy. "We
stand in solidarity with the people of Georgia. After your nation
won its freedom in the Rose Revolution, America came to the aid
of this courageous young democracy. We are doing so again, as you
work to overcome an invasion of your sovereign territory - and an
illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country's borders
by force that has been universally condemned by the free world,"
the Vice President stated. "Russia's actions have cast grave doubt on
Russia's intentions and on its reliability as an international partner
- not just in Georgia but across this region and indeed throughout
the international system." Besides, Dick Cheney reiterated that
Washington fully supports Georgia's NATO ambitions. "Georgia will be
in our alliance," he claimed.
Nevertheless, according to the sources of Kommersant in the Georgian
Chancellery, the talks of Mikheil Saakashvili and Dick Cheney didn't
go as smoothly as their press-conference did. The discussion mainly
focused on the security of the existing pipelines, which were laid
in Georgia omitting Russia, and the project of the Trans-Caspian
gas pipeline Nabucco. Dick Cheney made no secret of the fact that
the U.S. is ready to provide the security of these pipelines using
political methods only. So, Georgia won't get military assistance
from the U.S. now.
By the way, Wednesday, U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice made
this position public. "It is not yet time to look at the questions of
assistance on the military side," she stated in Washington. However,
Mikheil Saakashvili declared ready to further support American energy
projects in the region. According to the sources of Kommersant, he
promised to Dick Cheney that Tbilisi will support the Nabucco project
"whatever" in case the U.S. gets the approval of Georgia's neighbors,
Baku, first of all.
The Baku emissary
Meanwhile, according to the information of Kommersant, Dick Cheney's
visit to Azerbaijan he made on Wednesday turned out complete
failure. The guest of honor, who came in Baku for the first time,
was met neither by President Ilham Aliyev nor Prime Minister Artur
Rasizade. Instead, First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyubov and Foreign
Office Chief Elmar Mammadyarov met Dick Cheney in the airport. As
to Ilham Aliyev, he was in no hurry to receive Mr Cheney. That's why
the U.S. Vice President first went to a meeting with BP President in
Azerbaijan Bill Schrader and Chevron Azerbaijan top managers. Then he
visited the U.S. Embassy in Baku and held a meeting with Ambassador
Anne E. Derse. It was not earlier than in the evening that Dick Cheney
went to the residence of Azerbaijan's President.
According to the sources of Kommersant with the Office of Azerbaijan's
President, the talks turned out pretty tough, in spite of the fact that
Dick Cheney and Ilham Aliyev have had close ties since Mr cheney worked
with Halliburton and Mr Aliyev was SOCAR (Azerbaijan's state-run oil
company) Vice President. They discussed the war in Georgia and the
prospects of constructing the Nabucco gas pipeline. According to the
information of Kommersant, Dick Cheney informed Ilham Aliyev that the
U.S. will support its allies in the region and intends to promote the
project of the gas pipeline omitting Russia. Nonetheless, Ilham Aliyev
sent a clear message that although he appreciates the relations with
Washington, he is not going to have a row with Moscow. In fact it
meant that under the present circumstances Baku decided to bide its
time without fostering the Nabucco project. Kommersant interlocutors
with the Presidential Office said that Dick Cheney was irritated by
the outcome of the discussion - he even refused to attend a banquet
in his honor.
Ilham Aliyev's reluctance to support Washington quarreling with
Russia is easy to explain. Baku regrded Tbilisi's definitively losing
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as Russia's tanks entering
Georgia as a signal to everyone in the region who is willing to join
NATO. Azerbaijan's budget incurs great losses: because of the explosion
at the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline on August 12 - Turkey put
the blame on the Kurdistan Workers Party - and the pauses of the work
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and Baku-Supsa oil pipeline,
energy carriers export from Azerbaijan in the western direction was
suspended. At the same time Baku has no claims to Russia. Moreover,
according to the information of Kommersant, Azerbaijan's authorities
expressed their gratitude to the Russian Federation because during
the military operation and bombardments of the Georgian territory no
BTC-related facilities were destroyed.
Nevertheless, Baku can't overhaul its stance towards the pipelines
on the territory of Georgia. Azerbaijan is said to have increased
the workload of the Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipeline. It concluded
that in the present situation it's more secure to transport gas
to Europe via Russia, rather than Georgia and Turkey. Even more
so in June Gazprom offered to buy Azerbaijan's gas at any volumes
according to the European pricing formula. During his visit to Baku
in July Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ilham Aliyev agreed to
launch negotiations concerning the matter. It seems the talks will
be accelerated, just like the pace of Baku and Moscow's developing
closer relations.
The Russian leaders have already started work in this direction. In
the evening after the talks of Dick Cheney and Ilham Aliyev finished,
Dmitry Medvedev called Azerbaijan's President. Sources in the Kremlin
explained to Kommersant the necessity of the telephone conversation
with Dmitry Medvedev's desire to bring home to Ilham Aliyev, one of
the region's most influential players, Russia's position regarding
Georgia. Even more so Azerbaijan has a territorial dispute with
Armenia, which remains unresolved. "Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyanhas
recently visited Moscow and discussed the situation over South
Ossetia and Abkhazia during his talks with Dmitry Medvedev. The
Russian President thought it important to discuss those matters with
the Azerbaijani party as well because Baku belongs neither to SCO
nor CSTO - the organizations Russia has intensified contacts with,"
a source in the Kremlin told Kommersant. In her turn, Press-Secretary
of the Russian President Natalya Timakova told Kommersant that during
their conversation the leader of Russia and Azerbaijan discussed a
possibility of a meeting in the near future.