[R-G] [BillTottenWeblog] Russia remains a Black Sea power

[Bill Totten]

by M K Bhadrakumar

www.atimes.com (August 30 2008)
	
	
If the struggle in the Caucasus was ever over oil and the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization's (NATO's) agenda towards Central Asia, the United
States suffered a colossal setback this week. Kazakhstan, the Caspian
energy powerhouse and a key Central Asian player, has decided to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with Russia over the conflict with Georgia, and
Russia's de facto control over two major Black Sea ports has been
consolidated.

At a meeting in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Thursday on the sidelines
of the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),
Kazakh President Nurusultan Nazarbayev told Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev that Moscow could count on Astana's support in the present crisis.

In his press conference in Dushanbe, Medvedev underlined that his SCO
counterparts, including China, showed understanding of the Russian
position. Moscow appears satisfied that the SCO summit also issued a
statement on the Caucasus developments, which, inter alia, said, "The
leaders of the SCO member states welcome the signing in Moscow of the
six principles for regulating the South Ossetia conflict, and support
Russia's active role in assisting peace and cooperation in the region".
The SCO comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.

There were tell-tale signs that something was afoot when the Kazakh
Foreign Ministry issued a statement on August 19 hinting at broad
understanding for the Russian position. The statement called for an
"unbiased and balanced assessment" of events and pointed out that an
"attempt [was made] to resolve a complicated ethno-territorial issue by
the use of force", which led to "grave consequences". The statement said
Astana supported the "way the Russian leadership proposed to resolve the
issue" within the framework of the United Nations charter, the Helsinki
Final Act of 1975 and international law.

The lengthy statement leaned toward the Russian position but offered a
labored explanation for doing so.

Kazakhstan has since stepped out into the thick of the diplomatic
sweepstakes and whole-heartedly endorsed the Russian position.

This has become a turning point for Russian diplomacy in the post-Soviet
space. Nazarbayev said:

"I am amazed that the West simply ignored the fact that Georgian armed
forces attacked the peaceful city of Tskhinvali [in South Ossetia].
Therefore, my assessment is as follows: I think that it originally
started with this. And Russia's response could either have been to keep
silent or to protect their people and so on. I believe that all
subsequent steps taken by Russia have been designed to stop bloodshed of
ordinary residents of this long-suffering city. Of course, there are
many refugees, many homeless.

"Guided by our bilateral agreement on friendship and cooperation between
Kazakhstan and Russia, we have provided humanitarian aid: 100 tons have
already been sent. We will continue to provide assistance together with you.

"Of course, there was loss of life on the Georgian side - war is war.
The resolution of the conflict with Georgia has now been shifted to some
indeterminate time in the future. We have always had good relations with
Georgia. Kazakhstan's companies have made substantial investments there.
Of course, those that have done this want stability there. The
conditions of the plan that you and [President of France Nicolas]
Sarkozy drew up must be implemented, but some have begun to disavow
certain points in the plan.

"However, I think that negotiations will continue and that there will be
peace - there is no other alternative. Therefore, Kazakhstan understands
all the measures that have been taken, and Kazakhstan supports them. For
our part, we will be ready to do everything to ensure that everyone
returns to the negotiating table."