Zlenko Tours South Caucasus
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official described Minister Zlenko’s tour of countries in the South Caucasus as unique. He obviously had in mind the scope of issues discussed as the foreign minister visited Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia, ranging from oil to ways of settling conflicts like Abkhazia and Nagorno- Karabakh. The trip is also unique considering that he visited three countries within four days. In addition, two of these countries are Kyiv’s partners as members of GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova). Anatoly Zlen ko made a significant statement concerning GUUAM prospects, reports UNIAN. When asked by journalists about the possibility of setting up an antiterrorist agency within the organization, he said “there is nothing that prevents doing it.” Until then, it should be stressed, the GUUAM countries avoided discussing even the remotest chance of it being used to deal with matters relating to security. This cautious approach was quite understandable, as no one wanted to touch Russia’s sore spot. Incidentally, Moscow has done much to promote an antiterrorist center within the CIS framework. If such an agency emerges in GUUAM, efforts will most likely have to be made to persuade the Kremlin that no one is going to compete with the Commonwealth of Twelve Post-Soviet States.
Visiting three countries in the South Caucasus during one trip does not seem coincidental, considering that Kyiv is interested in each and every one of them from the perspective of oil. While in Baku [currently Baky, capital of Azerbaijan], Zlenko said that the “prospects of transporting Caspian oil via the Baku-Supsa- Odesa-Brody pipeline” should be transferred to the “plane of specific economic calculations.” True, this problem affects Ukraine in the first place, because Kyiv is still struggling to resolve the issue of an international consortium to transport oil to Western European countries, using the said pipeline. Azerbaijani President Geydar Aliyev assured the Ukrainian foreign minister that Ukraine will get Caspian oil. Recently similar assurances came from the Kazakh president. Azerbaijani oil business people, however, recalled that Ukraine must seek market vehicles to attract Azerbaijani oil companies, offering them good terms and conditions on a competitive basis. Then the oil will come pouring in.
A separate point on Mr. Zlenko’s agenda was settling conflicts in the South Caucasus. In particular, Ukraine is prepared to discuss the possibility of a Ukrainian peacekeeping force in the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict, provided the UN Security Council passes an appropriate resolution. As for Nagorno-Karabakh, Mr. Zlenko pointed out that Kyiv is against any military operations as means to settle the conflict. In both cases Ukraine will uphold the integrity of both Georgia and Azerbaijan and is likewise prepared to provide its good offices. True, the latter’s effectiveness is best not discussed here. The only thing Ukraine has really accomplished is the number of peacekeepers dispatched (it is Europe’s number one supplier of peacekeepers). Another question, a disputable one, is whether it is worthwhile to risk Ukrainian servicemen’s lives in regions that have never actually interested, let alone threatened, Ukraine.
