CSTO SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARIES BACK RUSSIA’S OPERATION IN S. OSSETIA

RosBusinessConsulting
Sept 3 2008
Russia

RBC, 03.09.2008, Yerevan 16:57:46.The council of the Security Council
Secretaries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
approves of Russia’s actions in South Ossetia, Russia’s Security
Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told a news conference in
Yerevan. As for the reasons underlying the conflict, Patrushev said
that the North Caucasus and Central Asia were rich in hydrocarbons,
and therefore were of interest to many countries, particularly the
USA, which "wanted to gain access to the riches". He noted that before
the military operations in South Ossetia "a number of countries" had
been equipping and arming Georgia, and Georgia halted ceasefire talks
after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Tbilisi. And
at this moment, despite the tragic events, "Saakashvili’s regime"
has been expanding its military presence, Patrushev stated.

Patrushev believes that in the near future the US will be trying to
put more pressure on Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. In his opinion,
Russia has emerged as a geopolitical center over the past years, and in
a new political environment the influence of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization and CSTO, as well as China and India and the organizations
of which these two countries are members will be mounting.