#8 - RW 286
Moscow Times
December 11, 2003
Washington Tells Moscow It's Moving East
By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer

In the first meeting of its kind, a senior U.S. official briefed Russian diplomats Wednesday on Washington's plans to move troops closer to Russia's borders, stressing that the realignment should not be taken as aggression.

While U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman spoke with Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov, President Vladimir Putin courted the defense ministers of 10 former Soviet republics with promises of continued military training and discounted weapons.

Moscow and Washington could find themselves set on a collision course should the United States decide to open bases in former Soviet republics, which Russia considers a zone of its strategic interests.

Grossman, who oversees political affairs at the State Department, emerged from his 90-minute meeting with few details about what had been discussed.

"I tried to emphasize ... that the Cold War is over and that the positions of American forces around the world sometimes reflect the Cold War and not the threats that we face today," he said at a news conference.

"As NATO expands south and east, obviously our military forces have the opportunity to follow that expansion," he said.

Grossman said he and Chizhov did not discuss any specific countries where U.S. troops might be redeployed, adding that this was just the first round of talks and that consultations would continue.

He said Foreign Ministry officials were "glad that we have made the effort to come here" but declined to comment specifically on Chizhov's reaction to the planned realignment.

The Foreign Ministry declined to comment Wednesday.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, however, quickly weighed in, reiterating Moscow's concerns about the planned expansion of NATO forces to its frontiers.

"The security of some must not come at the expense of others," Ivanov told reporters. "Any plans to bring the NATO infrastructure closer to our borders prompts an absolutely understandable, explicable concern."

Speculation that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld might have discussed the possibility of opening military bases during recent visits to Azerbaijan and Georgia has been swirling in the Russian press. The press also has been quick to point out that a consortium of Western companies plans to build a pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia to deliver Caspian oil to Turkey and beyond.

Rumsfeld made no public statements about opening U.S. bases, but he did urge Russia to withdraw from its bases in Georgia.

A Defense Ministry official said Wednesday that Grossman's visit along with Rumsfeld's call for Russia to withdraw from Georgia are part of a campaign to "push Russia out" of its zone of vital interests.

"It is an attempt to create a momentary vacuum that could be instantly filled by the U.S.," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Georgian and Azeri officials have hinted that they would welcome NATO bases on their soil. Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev told reporters after the meeting with Putin on Wednesday that "nothing can be ruled out."

"The situation changed in just a few months," he said. "Do you recall saying that there would be no bases in Central Asia? But they have appeared. Therefore, I have expressed my personal opinion that there is a possibility that this issue will be considered."

Grossman said Washington has not reached a final decision on which countries will host new U.S. bases. He said Azerbaijan and Poland have not been discussed as possible hosts.

Russia is actively trying to secure and expand its own military presence in what it describes as "the near abroad." It has been incrementally trying to transform the Collective Security Treaty Pact, which unites six former Soviet republics, from a paper tiger into a real force.

Moscow also is seeking to strengthen defense and security ties within the more loosely knit Commonwealth of Independent States. Putin met with CIS defense ministers Wednesday to tell them that Russia is prepared to continue providing free training to their armies and start selling them weapons at domestic Russian prices.

"Military and military-technical cooperation between the CIS member nations is an important factor in our cooperation in the entire post-Soviet space that ensures security and a peaceful life for our citizens," Putin told the ministers.

Moscow is rightfully concerned about Washington's vaguely worded plans to expand its military presence eastward, said Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information's Moscow office.

While Washington's declaration that it needs to cut its dependence on Old Europe by opening bases in former Warsaw Pact countries is "understandable," any arguments about needing permanent bases in former Soviet republics to battle terrorism are far from being convincing, Safranchuk said.

One clear reason that the United States might want to establish bases in the southern Caucasus region would be to secure the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, he added.

With Moscow's consent, the United States deployed troops in several Central Asian countries in 2001 to support U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan. The deployment was supposed to be temporary.

Russia maintains military bases in Armenia, Tajikistan, Georgia, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan. Russian troops were supposed to be withdrawn from Georgia and Moldova in accordance with the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, but their withdrawal has stalled.

The Russian military also operates an early warning radar system in Gabala, Azerbaijan, as well as launch pads for military missiles and rockets at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.