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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
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Russia cautions Azerbaijan
against allowing U.S. military troops
11 December 2003 |
| Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikolay Ryabov called on "some irresponsible politicians of Azerbaijan" to refrain from considering stationing U.S. military troops within the country. In a Friday news conference on the current |
 political situation in the South Caucasus, Ambassador Ryabov voiced his country's concern over the matter. “There has not been and there will not be any kind of American presence in the Caspian. We will not allow it, they have nothing to guard here,” said the Russian ambassador, barely containing his displeasure. The Russian diplomat’s statement was sparked by the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Baku last Wednesday. |
During a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, Rumsfeld proposed deployment of mobile US military forces in Azerbaijan. Ambassador Ryabov expressed regret that a number of people within the parliament and government believe that some problems, including the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Upper Garabagh, would soon be solved if foreign military forces were stationed in Azerbaijan. He added that in fact, the appearance of foreign military forces will not ensure, but rather prolong peaceable settlement of the conflict. The Russian diplomat also voiced his pleasure that the Azerbaijani government had not unveiled a positive standpoint on the subject of U.S. troops. "Positioning foreign military bases in the territory of other sovereign counties should be considered a partial seizure of those countries' independence," stressed the Ambassador, underlining the contradiction between the foreign military forces deployed in Georgia and Georgian law. It is interesting to note that the Russian ambassador spoke about the negative consequences of foreign military bases in an independent country, but did not mention his country’s large military presence in Georgia and Armenia. Commenting on the United States' desire to deploy mobile military troops in the region to ensure the security of the oil and gas pipelines through Azerbaijan and Georgia, Ryabov said: "To ensure security of oil and gas pipelines by use of foreign military troops is beyond world practice. Azerbaijan has the potential to secure the pipelines itself." As for the U.S. troops maintaining peace in the Caspian basin, the Ambassador underlined that this would negatively affect Azerbaijan's relations with neighboring Iran and Russia. "Russia understands well its responsibility for resolution of the Garabagh conflict," said Ryabov, recalling that diplomatic talks on the subject between Russia and Azerbaijan have recently been intensified. Noting that bilateral relations have become more active recently, the Russian diplomat recalled President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Russia prior to Azerbaijan's presidential elections. During that visit, Aliyev’s remarks about the strategic character of bilateral relations were widely quoted. Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov’s two-day working visit to Baku on November 26-27 focused on the political situation in the region and possibilities for resolution of the Upper Garabagh conflict. The same day, the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents had a telephone conversation regarding the political situation in the region. So far, the Azeri government has not responded to Ambassador Ryabov’s statement, which was perceived by many as harsh and insulting. However, some pundits characterized the statement as tactless and interfering in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs. Invitation According to Ambassador Ryabov, President Ilham Aliyev is scheduled to pay an official visit to Moscow in mid-February of 2004, at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Ryabov told a news conference on Friday that a letter of invitation had been presented in to Azeri Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev in Moscow. |