Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 9, 2006 Friday
AFTERWARD TO THE JUBILEE MEETING OF THE CIS COUNCIL OF DEFENSE
MINISTERS;
Moscow is prepared to strengthen its positions in the post-Soviet
republics
Russian Defense Minister held the 50th meeting of the CIS Council of
defense ministers in Baku last week.
Unfortunately, the majority of the CIS defense ministers failed to
attend the meeting. No one was surprised that representatives of
Georgia, Moldova and Turkmenistan did not arrive they always ignore
such meetings. However, it’s unknown why the defense ministers of
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan refused to attend the meeting.
They sent their representatives. The Ukrainian defense minister
participated as an observer. The delegation from Armenia did not
arrive, though this country is an active participant in military
cooperation within the framework of the CIS. Armenian representatives
feared that Azerbaijan would not ensure their security. This is a
reasonable argument. There was a tragic precedent: an Armenian
officer sent to a course in English in Budapest was murdered by an
Azerbaijanian officer. Azerbaijan declared the murderer person of the
year in 2005…
Only four ministers (from Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan)
participated. However, the meeting proved to be very fruitful. They
discussed the progress of realization of the Conception of military
cooperation within the CIS until 2010. The ministers focused on the
joint anti-aircraft system and the CIS coordinating committee in
charge of anti-aircraft issues. In particular, they considered issues
linked with funding the anti-aircraft system in 2007. There are plans
to allocate around 240 million roubles for its development.
The ministers analyzed the performance of the CIS coordinating
committee of meteorological services and determined its tasks until
2010. In addition, they passed joint requirements to the
communications system and discussed planning of joint operational
exercises in 2007.
The ministers analyzed the performance of the peacekeeping contingent
in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazia conflict and decided to extend
its commander’s term in office for six months.
Sergei Ivanov made a range of important statements about Moscow’s
policy in the post-Soviet republics after the end of the summit.
He noted that 1,500 peacekeepers stationed in the Trans-Dniester
territory prevent military conflicts between Moldova and the
Trans-Dniester territory. Several hundred servicemen guard ammunition
depots of the former 14th army.
The minister said that Russia has withdrawn heavy weapons from the
Trans-Dniester territory in compliance with the conventional arms
agreement. However, he noted that Russian servicemen must remain in
this region in order to prevent terrorists from obtaining the
remaining ammunition in the Trans-Dniester territory.
The Russian minister noted, “We will be protecting these ammunition
depots until a political solution to the Trans-Dniester problem has
been found.”
To all appearances, this means that Moscow has begun to defend its
interests in the post-Soviet republics. It’s no secret that many
Russian politicians reproach the government for being too diplomatic
in solving some problems, for instance with Georgia and Ukraine.
The demonstration of such serious a position is probably linked with
the fact that the OSCE chairman, who arrived in Moldova, stated that
the OSCE is prepared to allocate EUR10 million for the withdrawal of
Russian weapons from the Trans-Dniester territory. The OSCE chairman
said that his organization intends to make Russia withdraw troops
from Moldova.
Sergei Ivanov again noted that the West uses double standards for
evaluating Russia’s and the US’ military presence abroad. In
particular, he focused on the agreement reached by the US and
Bulgaria to create an US military base in this country. The strength
of the base (2,500 servicemen) can be doubled in critical situations.
In addition, the US will be able to store heavy military vehicles at
the base. The US states that this is “insubstantial military
presence”. At the same time, the US demands that Russian withdraw
peacekeepers from the Trans-Dniester territory.
Sergei Ivanov stated that at a conference in Vienna, Russia noted
that the mechanism of control over conventional arms in Europe won’t
work. This makes Russia worry because Moscow meets its commitments,
including in the North-Caucasus.
It should be noted that the OSCE chairman informed the Moldovan
reintegration minister that Kosovo and Montenegro can serve as a
precedent for the Trans-Dniester conflict. The Trans-Dniester
territory disagrees. Its president Igor Smirnov stated that the
Trans-Dniester territory will organize a referendum concerning its
independence by October. He noted that the Trans-Dniester territory
may join the CIS. The Abkhazian leader has similar plans.
Ukrainian defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko met with his
Azerbaijanian counterpart Safar Abiyev in Baku. The Ukrainian
minister announced the idea of creating a peacekeeping unit within
the framework of GUAM.
Some media called this statement a sensation. GUAM allegedly will
weaken Russia’s positions. It’s not new that GUAM competes with
Moscow and its allies. In principle, such a turn of events cannot be
ruled out. However, many political analysts state that the political
union of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova died long ago.
Such statements encourage Russia to more active moves. Sergei Ivanov
noted in Baku that in the prospects peacekeeping units will be sent
to Nagorny Karabakh because this problem cannot be solved. It should
be noted that Russia previously made similar statements. This is why
it’s possible that Moscow will soon initiate the issue of sending a
peacekeeping group to this region. The Russian Ground Force has a
peacekeeping brigade consisting of contract servicemen. One of its
battalions is deployed in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian
conflict.
The Russian defense minister held a meeting with his Ukrainian
counterpart Anatoly Gritsenko. They determined the destiny of the
An-70 project – Russia will not build this transport plane. The Black
Sea fleet became the main topic of negotiations.
Anatoly Gritsenko said that Sergei Ivanov plans to visit Ukraine in
summer in order to discuss this issue with the Ukrainian military
leadership.
Ukraine was stirred up by preparations for the Sea Breeze
international exercise in which Ukraine has been participating since
1997. Ukrainian residents protest against the exercise. They state
that the Ukrainian leadership seeks to join NATO and deploy a
military base of the alliance in the Crimea. The Crimean local
government bodies support the protesters.
In other words, the summit and statements made by some defense
ministers in Baku testify that military problems remain one of the
main issues in the relations between the former Soviet republics.
Russia has a lot of problems with some CIS nations. These problems
aggravate. Anyway, Moscow seeks to react to these problems.
Meanwhile, Moscow will probably have to make more decisive moves in
order to solve these problems and defend its interests in the
post-Soviet republics.
Source: WPS observer