ON GUAM’S COLD SHOWER FOR MOSCOW
news.am
Nov 12 2009
Armenia
"We have not seen any re-affirmed commitment to peaceful settlement of
conflicts in the communiqué issued by the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly,
which certainly arouses our concern," stated Andrey Nesterenko,
an official representative of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Even on a cursory acquaintance with the communiqué one will come
across a passage, which, in the ‘context of the situation in the region
after the Russian-Georgian conflict’ reads about ‘unacceptability of
any country’s actions aimed to destroy the territorial integrity of
an independent state’, necessity for ‘mobilizing the international
community in connection with aggressiveness in international
relations’," Nesterenko said, quoting the document.
The diplomat pointed out that Russia proposes considering the
afore-quoted wordings in the context of the "bloody massacre" the
Mikheil Saakashvili regime unleashed against South Ossetia. It is
Georgia that took aggressive actions against civilians and Russian
peace-makers, Nesterenko said. He pointed out that "it is that fact,
as well as numerous human victims, rather than a Russian-Georgian
conflict that should be talked about."
Yesterday NEWS.am published an article on the communiqué issued by
the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly in Tbilisi, Georgia. It is a deplorable
fact, but, in presenting Russia’s position on the document, Mr.
Nesterenko addressed only one aspect of the problem. The aggressive
document is obviously the result of the efforts by not only the
Georgian delegation, but also Azerbaijani delegates to the GUAM
Parliamentary Assembly. Official Baku’s daily militant rhetoric leaves
no doubts about that state not being committed to the principle of
peaceful settlement of conflicts. Peace in the Caucasus does not meet
the interests of Ukraine either – that state supplies weapons to both
Azerbaijan and Georgia. So the Russian official should have "spoken
out" instead of confining himself to the Georgian-Russian agenda.
We would remind the reader of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
empty signature to the Maindorf declaration – a day after he signed
the declaration he stated his readiness to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in a military way. The document, which was signed due to RF
President Dmitry Medvedev’s efforts, stipulates quite the opposite
approach.
Moscow, however, cannot interpret GUAM’s aggressiveness only as a
result of Georgia’s aggressive behavior. It should be remembered that,
when speaking about the region, GUAM implies the Nagorno-Karabakh
and Transdniestrian conflicts (Moldova being a GUAM member). Russia
cannot expect anything different from this organization established
and sponsored by the West. And, when signing partnership agreements
in Baku, RF President Dmitry Medvedev should think for a moment about
the next document Azerbaijan’s representative may sign at GUAM’s next
forum. Of course, it may happen only if the vain hope to "get to" the
Apsheron gas has not yet overshadowed Russia’s real politico-military
interests in the Transcaucasus.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
