KIEV, Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2008
Cheney Supports Former Soviet Republics
Says Georgia Will Join NATO; Kremlin Says VP Is Building "Anti-Russian Axis"
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and Vice President Dick Cheney seen during their meeting in the president's residence on the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 3, 2008. (AP Photo)
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits the town of Korenovsk, of Russia's Southern Krasnodar region, Sept. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti)
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Fast Facts Russia Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Photo Essay A Shaky Cease-Fire Russian soldiers take Georgian troops prisoner, remain in key Black Sea port.
Cheney flew to Kiev from Georgia, where he denounced Russia's "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to redraw the U.S. ally's borders by force.
"Georgia will be in our alliance," Cheney told reporters while standing alongside Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, whose pro-Western government has sought to join NATO despite Russian opposition.
Angry Russian officials have repeatedly said U.S. military aid was instrumental in emboldening Georgia to try to retake South Ossetia by force on Aug. 7. The attack sparked five days of fighting and resulted in Russian forces driving into South Ossetia and on into Georgia.
Speaking in Moscow, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of foreign affairs committee in the Kremlin-controlled lower house, accused Cheney of trying to forge an "anti-Russian axis."
"It's Cheney who was behind all recent events on the former Soviet turf," Kosachyov said in televised remarks.
The vice president's trip was intended as a signal that the U.S. will continue cultivating close ties with Georgia and its neighbors even after Russia showed it was willing to use military force against countries along its border.
Before Georgia, Cheney also stopped in oil-rich Azerbaijan.
There are concerns the Kremlin might next seek to squeeze Ukraine as it tries to reclaim dominance in the former Soviet Union. The strategically located country of 46 million has pipelines that carry Russian gas to European consumers and a Black Sea port that is home to a key Russian naval base.
"America will do its duty to work with the governments of Georgia and our other friends and allies to protect our common interests and to uphold our values," Cheney said.
"Russia's actions have cast grave doubts on Russia's intentions and on its reliability as an international partner," Cheney added.
On the eve of his arrival, the White House announced a $1 billion commitment to help the small, strategically located nation recover from its war with Russia.
Saakashvili said Georgia was grateful for the aid, which matched his government's estimate of war damages: "Together with our other partners, in Europe, America and elsewhere, we will rebuild Georgia. We feel that we are not alone."
The United States is at Georgia's side, Cheney said, "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."
New U.S. military aid to Georgia would further test relations between Washington and Moscow, which are already at a post-Cold War low.
Russia has condemned the U.S. use of warships to deliver aid as a form of gunboat diplomacy. The flagship of the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, the USS Mount Whitney, sailed into the Black Sea on Wednesday with more aid for Georgia.
According to a military official, the ship is planning to dock in the Black Sea port of Poti. The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the Russians have said they would not impede the ship's movement, but they want to check the cargo when it arrives in Poti. The U.S. has agreed to that, the official said.
The United States and European Union say Russia has failed to meet its obligations under an EU-brokered cease-fire deal. But Moscow insists the cease-fire accord lets it run checkpoints in security zones more than 4 miles into Georgian territory.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said before meeting with his Russian counterpart Thursday that the EU hopes the Russian troops will pull out by Monday when an EU delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Moscow.
"The EU peace deal talks about temporary security measures and patrols, not about permanent installations," Frattini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov firmly said after talks with Frattini in Moscow that Russian peacekeepers will stay in the security zone until there is a comprehensive mechanism of international monitoring.
For the first time since the outbreak of hostilities, Russia on Thursday allowed military monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to patrol a road near South Ossetia. "Access to the area has been a focus for the OSCE and international partners, and we welcome this important step," Ambassador Terhi Hakala, the head of the OSCE mission to Georgia, said in a statement.
The OSCE has decided to increase its team of observers in Georgia from 8 before the conflict to 100.
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, who has supported Georgia, has objected to Russia using its ships stationed in the Ukrainian base in the war, thus dragging Ukraine into the conflict. His move has angered Moscow and further strained relations which already have been tense over energy disputes and the Russian navy presence in Ukraine.
Since the war in Georgia last month, Russia has asserted it has what President Dmitry Medvedev called "privileged interests" in its sphere of influence, which includes the former Soviet states in the South Caucasus.
"I would like to say firmly: we are worried about the Russian president's recent use of the term 'regions of privileged interests of the Russian Federation'," Yushchenko said Thursday at a meeting with the ambassadors of G-7 nations. "I don't think this corresponds to the spirit of our neighborly relations."
Cheney's visit comes at an awkward time for Yushchenko. The governing coalition, made up of his party and that of his 2004 Orange Revolution partner - now Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - has collapsed, dashing hopes for quick progress and integration with the European Union.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have turned into bitter rivals before the 2010 presidential election, in which they are likely to compete against each other, blocking each other's policies and stalling much-needed reform.
After Tymoshenko sided with the Russia-friendly opposition to trim presidential powers, Yushchenko's allies pulled out of the coalition, robbing it of a parliamentary majority. The parliament now has to come up with a new alliance or a new election will be called. That would be the third parliamentary vote in as many years and a major embarrassment to Yushchenko's government.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 104 Comments"We do not intend to attack anybody. But all our partners must realize that for protection of Russia and its allies if necessary armed forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," Baluyevsky was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
Baluyevsky reportedly made the statement at a scientific conference of the Academy of Military Sciences January 19, 2008.
Cheney said this in Ukraine.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!
"Much of the stability along the BTC corridor would depend on Russia. Russia is not supportive of BTC. It sees it as a U.S. plot to gain control over the Caucasus and cut all links between Moscow of the former Soviet states, building an economic infrastructure that would prevent the former Soviet states to ever reunite with Russia. Moscow also views BTC as a way to weaken its position as major supplier of oil to the European markets. In a recent article at Asia Times Online, John Helmer refers to the BTC project as an effort %u201Cto redraw the geography of the Caucasus on an anti-Russian map.%u201D
Russia sold it s investment share of the BTC pipeline to Japan before the Iraq invasion.
After loosing Iraqi oil to Operation Iraqi Freedom, they negotiated supplies with Iran. The Russians were not happy with Cheneys BTC pipeline or the Caspian Sea Pipelines project going through Afghanistan. This threatens their economy based on oil & gas.
Shareholders in the BTC pipeline are: British Petroleum, AzBTC, Chevron, Statoil, TPAO, ENI, Total, Itochu, INPEX, ConocoPhillips & Amerada Hess.
Russia is the second largest supplier of oil & gas on the planet.
After loosing Iraqi oil to Operation Iraqi Freedom, they negotiated supplies with Iran. The Russians were not happy with Cheneys BTC pipeline or the Caspian Sea Pipelines project going through Afghanistan. This threatens their economy based on oil & gas.
Again it s the Bush administrations lust for money in World markets for their BIG OIL buddies
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Posted by dmgenet
And the EU heard "Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck".
How can that decrepit, old piece of crapp keep beating inside Cheney''s chest? WILL IT NEVER STOP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_-ubW98m0
No mention of the fact that Tymosheknko has just pulled her party support out of Ukraine''s government in support of Moscow? Did you not think that was newsworthy? Or does it just not go along with the corporate news line?
I guess we can always turn to other nation''s news outlets for the truth. This from Agence France Presse:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jAO63jbVdGaKPDbpMiavlRfvVuKQ
With all that blustery, bellicose rhetoric and Cheney''s previously demonstrated skill with a shotgun, Sarah Palin''s unmarried and pregnant daughter had better keep out of his sights (or lack thereof)!
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