WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 16, 2010 Friday

SAAKASHVILI MADE NUISANCE OF HIMSELF BUT FINAGLED MEETING WITH OBAMA

BYLINE: Sergei Strokan, Georgy Dvali

HIGHLIGHT: MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI SAID IN WASHINGTON THAT RUSSIAN URANIUM
WAS SMUGGLED ACROSS GEORGIAN BORDERS; President Mikhail Saakashvili
went to Washington to try and revive ebbing interest in himself and
Georgia victimized by Russia.

An unplanned and fortunately brief meeting with Mikhail Saakashvili of
Georgia was forced on U.S. President Barack Obama during the Nuclear
Security Summit in Washington. Saakashvili did his honest best to
revive interest in himself and Georgia and announced that Tbilisi had
intercepted smuggled uranium, mostly Russian, on the borders.

The list of 12 foreign leaders Obama would meet tete-a-tete in the
course of the Nuclear Security Summit had been known well in advance.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalanadze had said that the
president of Georgia would only meet with Vice President Josef Biden
and some European leaders in Washington.

Leading American newspapers and TV networks immediately noticed that
Obama had decided it necessary to meet with presidents of Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, and Armenia but not with the Georgian leader. In fact,
Saakashvili himself pointed it out when in Washington. The Georgian
leader visited The Washington Post editorial office on Monday and told
it that Georgia was still angling for membership in NATO and pondering
some purchases of weapons from the United States.

In the long run, a brief and unplanned (at least by the hosts) meeting
between the presidents of Georgia and the United States did take
place. The White House later announced that Obama had been happy to
see his Georgian counterpart. Obama reassured the visitor of America’s
support and praised Saakashvili for willingness to continue democratic
reforms.

Eager to develop the diplomatic breakthrough, Saakashvili announced at
the international forum in Washington that Georgian secret services
had circumvented eight attempts to smuggle uranium across the borders.
The Georgian leader alleged that the uranium was mostly Russian. He
said that the latest episode had occurred in March.

The Georgian Interior Ministry declined comment "in the interests of
investigation".

Source: Kommersant, April 15, 2010, p. 7