Russia Warns America Over Caspian Sea The Associated Press
The United States should not interfere in talks on delineating the oil-rich Caspian Sea, a top Russian diplomat said in an interview published Tuesday.
The legal status of the inland sea -- believed to contain the world's third largest reserves of oil and gas -- was governed by treaties between the Soviet Union and Iran.
But since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the five states that border the sea -- Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan -- have repeatedly failed to reach a new five-way agreement.
"The countries of the Caspian region should settle the problems by themselves, in a family way, so to speak, without attracting mediators," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny, a presidential envoy on the Caspian basin, said in an interview published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, adding that "the external factor will only cause problems."
Last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld emphasized U.S. interest in the Caspian region during a visit to Kazakhstan, noting that its security is important for the entire world. The United States is also planning upcoming military exercises with Azerbaijan in the Caspian.
"One should understand the essence: U.S. interest toward the Caspian region has to do only with oil," Kalyuzhny said.
"Imagine if Russia said it had interests in the area of the Great Lakes and even appointed a special envoy there -- how would the White House react to that?" Kalyuzhny said, referring to the U.S. envoy to the Caspian region.
www.themoscowtimes.com/st...4/044.html
And also this one here (didn't Russia just recently complete large-scale nuclear war simulations, and even more recently successfully test fire two missiles? ) 2004-03-22 19:59 * RUSSIA * DEFENSE MINISTRY * FLEET * EXERCISES * RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET TO HOLD MAJOR EXERCISES MOSCOW, March 22 (RIA Novosti) Major exercises will be held on the Black Sea Fleet, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of the president with government members. "A major exercise of a formation of surface ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in interaction with aviation groups and units of the fleet's coast guard will be taking place from March 22 to 27 under the guidance of Black Sea Fleet Commander, Admiral Vladimir Masorin. The Black Sea Fleet press service said the main aims of the exercise will be the improvement of commander and staff training, and practicing tactical groups' interaction while performing combat tasks. The exercise involves about 20 combat ships, the fleet's aircraft and helicopters, 10 auxiliary ships, over 100 marines and 30 pieces of coast guard battle vehicles. en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm...do_alert=0