MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) Closer cooperation with NATO in Afghanistan unlikely to benefit Russia / Russia developing South Ossetia's military transport infrastructure / Gas 'troika' to discuss trans-Caspian pipeline project / Russians arm themselves over fears of consequences of financial meltdown /
Gazeta.ru
Closer cooperation with NATO in Afghanistan unlikely to benefit Russia
The conflict in Afghanistan is gradually becoming the main focus of the international community in the region, a Russian analyst writes. It may also be the only link left between Russia and the West, notably NATO, but cooperation there is unlikely to promote their rapprochement.
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Moscow-based magazine Russia in Global Affairs, writes in the online newspaper that Russia-NATO relations were put on ice in August because of the Caucasus war. The bloc's cargo transit to Afghanistan via Russia was the only remaining, if weak, link.
However, they have recently expanded cooperation. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sanctioned the delivery of Spanish military equipment and personnel to Afghanistan. Germany has become the first NATO country to be allowed to deliver its arms, military hardware and equipment to Afghanistan by rail.
Russia may increase its assistance of the Afghan operation, Lukyanov writes. It will not however, he said, participate in any actual fighting there, because Russia has had its own Afghan war and does not want another.
Both sides would benefit from closer relations. NATO may even establish some form of interaction with the CSTO, which Russia has always wanted to be seen as NATO's Eurasian analogue. However, this is unlikely, the analyst writes.
On the other hand, the Afghan problem is unlikely to bring Russia and NATO closer, and NATO would not halt its eastward expansion or ABM deployment as payment for Russia's assistance in Afghanistan.
According to Lukyanov, Washington refuses to pamper Moscow because it believes that peace in Afghanistan will benefit Russia.
Russia will face problems if NATO loses the war. In this event, Moscow will face destabilization in Central Asia, just as in the second half of 1990s, Lukyanov concludes.
The CSTO is a security group comprising the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
Gazeta
Russia developing South Ossetia's military transport infrastructure
Russia plans to spend 10-12 billion rubles ($430 million) to establish military bases in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and to build, as soon as next year, a transport link in the Mamison Gorge to back up the only road from Russia to South Ossetia. This road goes through the Roki Tunnel, a mountain tunnel at an altitude of 10,000 feet, and is widely-considered a weak supply route.
A high-ranking source at the Defense Ministry's Billeting, Facilities and Installation Service told Gazeta on Thursday that a military base in South Ossetia will cost Russia 5-6 billion rubles ($200 million) and will take years to build, while total spending on military development in the two newly independent republics will reach 10-12 billion.
The high construction costs are caused by the mountain terrain, as well as by the need to build roads and special communications lines in addition to barracks and equipment depots, the source explained. The Roki pass is so far the only way to reach Dzhava and Tskhinvali, where motorized units of the North Caucasus military district will be permanently deployed, a total of 3,800 troops. Backup roads will be needed in any case, ministry officials said.
Yury Dzytsoity, deputy speaker of the South Ossetian parliament, said the republic's government has determined that the road should run through the Mamison Gorge. He said the construction was in full swing and the new road would be commissioned next year, adding that the Roki Tunnel was very vulnerable from a military point of view and required an overhaul in any case.
"We are building a supply line to connect South Ossetia and Russia directly," the official said. "It won't be as developed, but will be a good alternative to the Roki Tunnel."
He also said the road will run along a planned gas pipeline, also under construction, and will be an extension of the Military Ossetian Road. The new road won't be open for civilian transport.
Vremya Novostei
Gas 'troika' to discuss trans-Caspian pipeline project
The presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey are to hold their first meeting in Turkmenbashy (formerly Krasnovodsk), a city on the Caspian Sea 654 km (406 miles) from the capital of Turkmenistan, on Friday evening. They will most probably discuss the possibility of building a trans-Caspian gas pipeline.
Officially, the energy talks will begin on Saturday.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Abdullah Gul will probably try to convince Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to pledge to deliver gas to Europe via the two countries.
Eighteen months ago, Berdymukhamedov met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the city on the Caspian Sea to sign a declaration on building a Caspian gas pipeline via Russia. However, although Moscow has done its best to promote the project, it has not progressed since the signing of an intergovernmental agreement in late 2007.
Even if the new "gas troika" signs joint documents in Turkmenbashy, they will not necessarily boost the trans-Caspian pipeline project.
Gas for the pipeline is to be supplied from Turkmenistan's unexplored offshore deposits. Moreover, Turkmenistan has not signed agreements on the division of the Caspian Sea bottom with its neighbors - Kazakhstan, Iran and Azerbaijan.
The trans-Caspian project is unlikely to proceed before the development of offshore gas fields. But the meeting between the three presidents will definitely help Berdymukhamedov create the necessary atmosphere for the upcoming visit of Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller to Ashgabat in December.
The Turkmen authorities have acted wisely to ensure that the potential aspirants for the Caspian gas resources step up their political efforts in time for the crucial talks with Moscow on gas prices and the volume of gas supplies in 2009.
Moskovskaya Pravda
Russians arm themselves over fears of consequences of financial meltdown
Gun-related injuries have become more frequent in Moscow of late. There are no official statistics for street shootings involving non-lethal weapons, but incidents emerge in the news and in police reports weekly, suggesting that it is almost as easy to get hit by a stray bullet in the Russian capital as in Beirut.
The police admit unofficially that the number of people seeking to obtain licenses to buy firearms has grown alarmingly. They attribute the trend to the global financial crisis.
"It is that people don't know what to expect. They are scared. Many are serious in their anticipation of a social unrest, or revolt," a police source said on condition of anonymity.
"I have talked to a friend who never wanted to buy any weapons, and he said he has urgently applied for a license. He says, how am I supposed to defend my home from starving guest workers unarmed?" he added.
Ivan Khomichev, a former legal official and now a human rights activist, said: "If I were a lawmaker, I would have thought to draft a law tightening requirements for a license to carry on weapons of any strength. The situation is critical and is threatening to get out of control.
"Unofficial statistics reveal that every third Russian owns firearms. The so-called compliance weapons, allegedly unlikely to kill, can still cause a lethal injury. Such weapons, carried around in almost everyone's car trunk, are often used to settle common conflicts these days. It sounds like whoever owns a "piece" is right, so people seek to get hold of one."
RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.
