MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian leadership is trying to use the tense situation in the Pankisi gorge as a way to establish closer ties with the United States, Alexei Arbatov, deputy chairman of the defense committee in the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
"The Georgian leadership has been speaking about its intention to join NATO for a long time, but this has not worked so far due to several reasons," Arbatov said. That is why Russia's statements that the Pankisi gorge might host Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda members played into Georgia's hands. The United States also profited from it, as it got a pretext to take control over the operation in the gorge, Arbatov noted.
Russia and the Trans-Caucasus are facing the choice whether to accept the fact that Islamic terrorists are operating on the territory or the fact that the U.S. military and political presence is increasing in the area. The choice is so limited because "at present Russia is not capable of eliminating terrorism epicenters on its own," Arbatov stressed.
The possible development in Georgia and the escalation of U.S. presence there run contrary to Russia's interests. "The emerging situation resembles of Cold War times when the USSR was surrounded by military bases of the United States and its allies practically on the whole perimeter. At present such bases are being established along Russian borders in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Trans-Caucasus, and if the Baltic states join NATO the bases will appear on north-western borders as well," Arbatov added.
The lawmaker believes that under such circumstances the Russian leadership should assume an articulate stance at talks with the U.S. and announce that the appearance of U.S. military near Russian borders is a new factor that might complicate bilateral relations.
"If the Unites States wants to cooperate with Russia in combating terrorism we need to hold consultations on deployment of our troops and conduction of military operations near each other's borders," Arbatov added. At the same time he stressed that the observance of this condition "might not only prevent complications in Russian-U.S. relations but also contribute to the efficiency of anti-terrorist operations."