US: RUSSIA PUTTING DANGEROUS PRESSURE ON GEORGIA
Reuters
June 18 2008
Russia is putting dangerous pressure on Georgia that threatens to
ignite a wider conflict in the Caucasus, a senior U.S. official told
Congress on Wednesday.
Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried recounted a list of recent
Russian actions he said put economic, political and military pressure
on Georgia, a former Soviet republic that aspires to join the western
NATO alliance.
"Georgia has been subjected to unremitting and dangerous pressure
from Russia, including over the separatist regions of Abkhazia and
to a lesser degree, South Ossetia," Fried told the House Foreign
Affairs Committee.
"We are very concerned about these actions, which challenge Georgia’s
territorial integrity and have increased tensions in the separatist
regions. They risk igniting a wider conflict," Fried said.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia threw off Tbilisi’s control in the early
1990s. Georgia wants to bring them back under its influence and resents
the support Russia has offered them for years. Recently the Abkhazia
dispute has flared as Moscow sent more troops to the region.
Fried said Russia had sent combat troops to Abkhazia as part of a
peacekeeping force and sent construction troops there to repair a
railroad link. He noted a United Nations report that said a Russian
fighter shot down a Georgian drone in April. Moscow has denied
involvement in that incident.
Fried expressed concern that Russian investors were buying property
in Abkhazia "in disregard of Georgian law."
"Some of these properties may have belonged to displaced persons,
making their eventual return even more difficult," he said.
Speaking of other tensions in the Caucasus, Fried said he did not
think Azerbaijan was preparing for war with neighboring Armenia
despite what he called "bellicose" rhetoric by some Azeri officials.
Fried was responding to a query from lawmakers who referred to recent
comments by Azeri leaders about the "occupation" of Azeri lands by
Armenia, at a time when Azerbaijan is also accelerating its military
spending.
"I do not believe, and it is the assessment of the United States that
Azerbaijan is not, despite this unwelcome rhetoric you referred to,
preparing for war," Fried said,.
"I share your views that the bellicose rhetoric is not helpful," he
said, adding that the United States was keeping the situation under
constant review.
Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, went to war in
the early 1990s over the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, killing
thousands and forcing thousands more to flee. Azerbaijan says Armenia
has illegally occupied the region.
Azerbaijan, which announced a 53 percent rise in military spending in
April, says it is committed to stalled peace talks but has refused
to rule out using force to restore its control over the disputed
area. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by David Storey and
David Wiessler)
From: Baghdasarian