“The US vice-president, d**k Cheney, is due to arrive in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, today to underline America's "deep and abiding interests" in the Caucasus, in the face of Russian warnings that any western moves to rearm the country could bring further instability, sharpening the standoff in the region between Moscow and Washington.
As Cheney flew from Azerbaijan to Georgia in a regional tour intended to underline US resolve, the Bush administration unveiled a $1bn aid package to rebuild the country's civilian infrastructure. Cheney was also expected to discuss Georgia's long shopping list of military hardware to help rebuild its army, which was severely mauled in last month's brief conflict with Russia.
Georgian officials have said they want to equip their army's existing four brigades with state of the art weaponry, and possibly add four more brigades.
Any such move would worsen tensions with Russia, which has used its occupation of large swaths of Georgia to raze as many army bases, and destroy or confiscate as much equipment as possible.
"All these calls on Tbilisi [by the US] about the need to restore destroyed military capability do not in any way promote the stabilisation of the situation in the region," a Russian foreign ministry spokesman, Andrei Nesterenko, said.
Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has accused Washington of having advance knowledge of, and participating in, Georgia's attack on South Ossetia last month. US military advisers had "probably" been involved in fighting Russian troops, Putin said.
During his visit to Azerbaijan yesterday, Cheney told reporters that the region was "in the shadow of the recent Russian invasion of Georgia". "President Bush has sent me here with a clear and simple message for the people of Azerbaijan and this entire region: the United States has deep and abiding interests in your well-being and security," Cheney said.â€Â
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/04/russia.georgia
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