Joint use of Gabala radar is not priority for U.S.: political expert

Day.Az: The Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan and Russia recently made a study visit to the Gabala radar station which revived media discussions over Russian idea of a joint use of the station as the solution of global problems of missile defense. Do you think t President Obama will favor this idea unlike his predecessor Bush Jr.?

Yuri Sigov: I think joint use of the Gabala radar is not priority for Americans. The problem is that Americans like the Chinese do not seek anything from anyone to do something together. Americans have a particular organization - NATO, where they play a dominant role and can almost monitor all key issues. I would say it is a matter of not understanding, but interdependence on basis of which all problems are solved.

Q:  Do you think the U.S. and Russia do not trust each other in the issue of Gabala radar?

A: From Russia there is no original element of trust from the very beginning. That is what the Russian representatives do would not be accepted by Americans as actions of an ally. Americans are always looking for trick. This is the same case with Russia. Therefore, a proposal to Americans use something together is doomed. Yes, they can say that “we will discuss”, but it will never happen.

If they really need a station or point of tracking, it is easier for them to pay the same money to Azerbaijan, to build what they want and to deploy their people there and to monitor anything. They have nothing to do together. There is an absolute analogy with China again. These countries are self-sufficient, so they simply see no sense to use something together.

Q: So, you say there will be no long-expected “reset” of U.S.-Russia relations?

A: I think you can restart the relationship when they exist. In fact, the relationship is very specific. They seem to be there and at the same time, unfortunately, they do not exist. First of all, as I have already noted, there is no mutual trust. It is completely absent both on the top level and at the level of individual interacting bodies. This is political contacts, military cooperation and very small mutual trade.

If we look at the relationship of China and the United States, either they developed from a very strong economic base and the full cooperation in trade, economic and financial sphere. But at Russia’s this is not the case as there is no basis for this and, as I said, there is no cooperation in the area of confidence.

Q: How serious is the U.S.-Russia contradiction in Georgia?

A: I think they have totally different positions  regarding Georgia in terms of great policy, vision of the former Soviet Union, which Russia still regards as its area of influence and it does not depend on what country it has a good relationship. Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova and Azerbaijan are also an area of increased attention and influence. The problem is that for Americans, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is now the same independent country such as Laos, Cambodia and South Africa. For Russia, this was not independent country but a zone of special interests.

That is the reason for lack of inconsistency and understanding between. If Americans consider for example Azerbaijan as an important country in the zone of the Caspian Sea, Russia will treat it nearest neighbor where the vast majority of people speak in Russian, where the president was a student at Moscow University, and so on. This is a very different approach. Therefore, the general philosophical concept of the post-Soviet space is completely different.

The same applies to Georgia. Where Russia sees a threat to its interests, the Americans believe that Georgia is an independent state for which no one should choose the path of development.

/Day.Az/