Russian-US tensions will not affect Caucasus – Vladimir Yevseyev

Russian-US tensions will not affect Caucasus – Vladimir Yevseyev

Escalating tensions between Russia and the US would not affect the conflicts in the South Caucasus. They are determined, firstly, by internal regional factors, Vladimir Yevseyev, Director of the Center for Socio-Political Studies, told Vestnik Kavkaza. The expert believes that conflicts between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, would maintain their status quo.


Georgia approved Russian membership in the WTO in exchange for Russia allowing it to monitor the foreign borders. There are no negative tendencies. Russia does not need instability for the coming Winter Olympic Games, with the hosting city of Sochi in the area. Tbilisi would not want instability in Adjara, the expert says.


Concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Yevseyev says that it will be determined by the ability of the sides to avoid violence. There is a dangerous balance, with regular sniper attacks and trainings. But the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process has nothing to do with Russian-US relations. The USA is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group. Meetings on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem were mainly initiated by Russia. The US president would not want unexpected decisions before the presidential polls.


The political analyst believes that the events around Syria and Iran may affect the Caucasus, although the US cannot interfere in the Nagorno-Karabakh or the Georgian conflicts. The US needs to concentrate on withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year. It may also reduce its presence in Afghanistan.

Russian-US relations suffered from Washington’s refusal to give Moscow legal guarantees that the European missile shield would not be a threat. The framework of the two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers had a session of the Russia-NATO Council, with Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov attending it. The key topic was cooperation on the European missile shield, where the sides failed to reach a consensus.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that US and NATO allies would not allow any third state to veto the NATO anti-missile system. The project will be realized and carries no threat to Russia. The missile threat does not come from Russia, it comes from other states.


Russia confirmed readiness to defend its measures and take counter-measures against the actions of the NATO and the US.

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