Russia's susceptibility to Western interests in Caucasus irritates, Markedonov says

"There is a lack of pragmatic talk among competent people and military experts. What kind of consequences may it have?" he said.

Meanwhile, yesterday Lt Gen Henry A. Obering, the Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) told a news conference in Brussels that the U.S. is going to consider the possibility of installation of anti-missile defense radar somewhere in the Caucasus.

The outlook of an American radar near Russia should become a signal for a thorough debate on relations with the West, Markedonov said.

"I see that the big number of challenges, including the Islamic extremism, terrorism, and unpredictable regime throughout the post-soviet space, unite Russia and the West. Under such circumstances we must not engage into collision with the West," the expert said.

"Certainly, the West has its own interests in the Caucasus but Russia's susceptibility to these interests irritates. Who forced us to lay down terms to Azerbaijan in an effort to make it join Georgia's blockade? Who forced us to transform Armenia into a state suffering from the Russia-Georgian relations and thus push it towards the West? I am not speaking of the Abkhazian and South Ossetian problems now. These are priority issues for Russia and a compromise with Georgia will hardly be found. Nevertheless, there are plenty of issues that demand western presence, first of all the Caucasian formations themselves," Markedonov said, reports the Caucasian Knot.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/