=== 1 ===

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10445886.htm

Reuters - April 10, 2007

Russia, U.S. clash at U.N. over Georgian region

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS - Russia and the United States clashed
sharply over Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia on
Tuesday as the United Nations Security Council debated
renewing a U.N. mission in the Caucasus state.

Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters
the United States had made a "serious diplomatic and
political mistake" in refusing to allow Abkhazia's
"foreign minister" to come to New York.

U.S. officials denied they had turned down a formal
visa request by the minister, and U.S. ambassador
Alejandro Wolff accused Churkin of a "mischievous
effort" to create "false analogies" between Abkhazia
and Serbia's troubled Kosovo region.

Abkhazia, on the Black Sea, broke away from Georgia in
1993 after the Soviet Union collapsed, when
separatists, backed by mercenaries and arms from
Russia's northern Caucasus region, drove out Tbilisi's
troops.

Moscow, which has frayed relations with Georgia, props
up the region by paying pensions, issuing Russian
passports and allowing cross-border traffic.

A U.N. military and police observer mission in
Georgia, currently 142-strong, has monitored the
situation since 1993. Its current six-month mandate
will expire on Friday.

Abkhazia is not officially recognized by any country
or international body, but Churkin took issue with
Washington's decision not to let the Abkhaz minister,
Sergei Shamba, come to the United States to address
the Security Council.

"This is clearly a fact of violating the spirit of the
obligation of the host country," Churkin said. "We
think it was a rather serious diplomatic and political
mistake." The Security Council, he said, should listen
to both sides.

"As I mentioned in the Council meeting today, can you
imagine what would be the situation ... if in the case
of the Kosovo conflict, all those years the
international community were listening only to the
Serb side?"

"MISCHIEVOUS EFFORT"

Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999,
when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces. A U.N. plan,
backed by the West but opposed by Russia's ally
Serbia, proposes independence.

In a statement distributed by Russian officials,
Shamba himself attacked the Security Council for
failing to consult both sides, "which makes us think
that the UN has not become an equidistant party."

But Wolff told reporters that of a six-nation group of
"friends of Georgia" - Russia, the United States,
Britain, France, Germany and Slovakia - only Russia
thought the time was ripe for Shamba to attend the
United Nations.

"We've heard ambassador Churkin today, as he has done
previously, raise false analogies with Kosovo, in a
mischievous effort to complicate that discussion," he
said.

U.S. embassy spokesman Richard Grenell contended the
United States had not turned down a visa request by
Shamba. Diplomats said Shamba had made no official
visa application after receiving word that he would
not be welcome.

The Security Council adjourned without a decision on
the U.N. mission, known as UNOMIG. A report on
Abkhazia earlier this month by Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon said a helicopter attack on March 11 on
Georgian-controlled territory bordering Abkhazia had
been a "major setback" to peace efforts.

Russia's air force denied Georgian charges that the
helicopters were Russian. Churkin said Moscow believed
Georgia's armed presence in the area involved, the
upper Kodori valley, "exceeds the limits of the
reasonable."

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, appearing
later at an exhibit of photographs of the
Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, said his country had only
police in the area, which he said was its right. 

=== 2 ===

http://news.trendaz.com/cgi-bin/readnews2.pl?newsId=960129&lang=EN

Trend News Agency (Azerbaijan) - July 20, 2007

Granting Kosovo Independence to Become Precedent for Separatism: Russian Speaker

K. Ramazanova

Azerbaijan, Baku - The Head of the Russian State Duma
believes that the current variant of the draft
resolution, envisaging granting Kosovo independence,
can be a precedent for separatist regimes in many
countries worldwide.

”The draft resolution on the future status of Kosovo
might be a precedent and light a fuse of separatism in
many countries worldwide, including Abkhazia,
Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Spain,
the UK and many African countries,” Boris Gryzlov, the
chairman of the State Duma, declared during
discussions regarding Montenegro.

He announced that Russia will use its right of veto
against the resolution, which is not supported by
Belgrade and Pristina.

Earlier the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated
that granting Kosovo independence cannot be a
precedent for separatist movements in other countries,
including Azerbaijan and Georgia.
...

=== 3 ===

http://www.panarmenian.net/details/eng/?nid=787

PanArmenian.net - July 28, 2007

Having suffered a defeat in resolution of Kosovo
Conflict, UNO got down to other conflicts of
post-Soviet area

[Synopsis: The West exploits the UN to
'internationalize' local disputes when it's to its
advantage to do so, and arrogantly acts outside the UN
when that is advantangeous. Planned actions in
Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh. South Ossetia,
Transdniester and later Kaliningrad, the Kurile
Islands, etc. are examples of the first. The NATO
states are now pressed to 'resolve' the above issues
before formalizing their recognition of Kosovo
secession for fear of establishing a precedent.]

If the Security Council takes any decision, the
conflict zones [in the former Soviet Union] will by
all means have “blue helmets” arriving there, which
will have a most negative impact on the situation of
the region; the very Kosovo is the most evident proof
of the above-mentioned fact.

-[E]verything is still ahead both for the world
community and UNO, which managed to prove in a short
time that it is just a political tool in the hands of
great powers.

Having suffered a defeat in resolution of the Kosovo
conflict, UNO [the UN] decided to get down to other
conflicts, including those which exist in the
post-Soviet area.

Presently the UN Security Council has the situation of
the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone under its
consideration.

As it is stated in the report on the state of affairs
in the region, which was handed in to the Security
Council by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
Abkhazia and Georgia “Failed to justify the hopes of
resuming a dialogue. This brought no stability in the
situation of the confrontation zone.”

In the opinion of Ban Ki-moon, because of the absence
of direct dialogue between Tbilisi and Sokhumi
[Abkhazia] there is “distrust and suspicion which may
make the situation even much tenser.”

The Resolution adopted unanimously by the Security
Council called on both parties to resume the dialogue
and fully keep to the agreement about a ceasefire,
force-free process and returning the refugees reached
earlier. The Secretary General mentioned with regret
that the parties interpret this document differently.

Meanwhile it is well known in UNO that in the conflict
zone there is the Conciliatory Commission made up of
representatives from RF [Russian Federation], Georgia
and Abkhazia, which also seeks a conflict resolution.

However, no commission or no any other international
organization may help the problem which has existed
for 15 years already.

It is natural that Georgia, as well as GUAM countries
in general (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova)
would love to have the resolution of conflicts of
their territory reach the UN, to once and for all
“bury” the last hope that they will ever be regulated.

This refers to both Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh.

In this regard it should be reminded that two
questions having direct connection with the Karabakh
conflict have been put on the agenda of the 61st
Session of the UN General Assembly.

One of the questions was proposed by Azerbaijan, the
second one - by [all the] GUAM countries.

However neither of them has yet been discussed at the
61st Session, and according to the General Assembly
Order they will be discussed at the next session.

“An issue is included in the agenda if there is a
corresponding decision made by the General Assembly,”
said the acting press-secretary of RA Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Vladimir Karapetyan.

According to him, Azerbaijan's wish to lead the issue
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation out of the
framework of the present negotiations has a negative
impact on the whole process.

“The given step speaks of the absence of political
will in Azerbaijan for positive regulation of the
conflict,” he mentioned in his comment on Baku's will
of putting the issue of Karabakh conflict regulation
on the agenda of UN General Assembly's Session.

Georgia and Azerbaijan appeal to UN, being well aware
of the fact that if the Security Council takes any
decision, the conflict zone will by all means have
“blue helmets” arriving there, which will have a most
negative impact on the situation of the region; the
very Kosovo is the most evident proof of the above
mentioned fact.
....
On the whole according to the OSCE and Conciliatory
Commission statements no progress is registered in the
process of conflict regulation.
....
[T]o what extent this [Kosovo's] independence will
become the key for regulation of the conflicts in CIS
is not clear.

In any case a 15-20 year-period is not long for the
resolution of such conflicts.

The Arab- sraeli conflict began in 1948 and exists up
to the present in spite of the declaration of
independence by Palestine.

So everything is still ahead both for the world
community and UNO, which managed to prove in a short
time that it is just a political tool in the hands of
great powers.

=== 4 ===

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=30517

Azeri Press Agency - July 12, 2007

Armenian President does not rule out new war with Azerbaijan

The cause of unsuccessful negotiations on the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is the
fact that Azerbaijan is unwilling to accept reality
and mistakenly thinks that the opposite process is
possible, whereas it is senseless to turn back the
wheel of history.

"The people who gained independence, will not refuse
from that,” Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated
in an interview to SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Drawing a parallel between Kosovo and the Nagorno
Karabakh conflicts he said, “We do not want to [make]
analogies, but undoubtedly the Karabakh people have
the same right to independence as do the Albanians of
Kosovo.

"Moreover, they protected their right alone without
interference by the international community. As to the
assistance from Armenia, Armenian people fought during
the war. Do you really think that Albania has not
provided assistance to the Albanians of Kosovo?

"There are a lot of correlations here and I see
Armenia and Karabakh’s future as an asymmetric
confederation,” Kocharian said.

He did not rule out a new war with Azerbaijan.

“Though I doubt that Azerbaijan’s military budget is
bigger than our state budget, I would warn against
judging about the correlation of forces from both
sides only by figures.

"You must take into account the fact that the soldier
who defends his homeland has another motivation than
the one who acts on a foreign territory.

"We do not have any intention to launch military
operations. But in case of a prepared aggression we
will make decisions, to which we will be obliged by
the military situation of the time and which will meet
our security interests.

"Our offers on the settlement of the conflict are
connected with the recognition of the republic and
security guarantees. They suppose the presence of
peacekeepers. It must be an international peacekeeping
contingent,” Armenian President underscored. 

=== 5 ===