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American analysts: Gabala RLS, which Moscow proposed to be used jointly to US, is still remaining on the agenda

26 January 2010 11:09 (UTC +04:00)

According to APAâ€™s Washington correspondent, prominent American analysts participating in the discussion presented Azerbaijan as an â€œimportant element of US-Russian bilateral agendaâ€.

â€œThe United States are more interested in the security guarantees of the energy supplies, which will pass through the South Caucasusâ€, - told Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott.

He mentioned that, concerns about energy security and military security have led to renewed interest in civil nuclear power worldwide. The 30 nations with operating power plants may soon be joined by ten new nations that are either already building reactors (Iran) or have concrete plans to begin.

â€œBut the fact remains that the number of new nations already committed to civilian nuclear power raises concerns. The most important single issue is whether the new nations will choose to develop their own full-cycle nuclear programsâ€”thereby spreading sensitive technologies and materials to new geographical regions, countries and corporate entitiesâ€”or whether the proliferation danger can be reduced by radical international approaches to fuel cycle managementâ€.

Speaking of the region security analyst stressed that, the security of the energy projects Azerbaijan participates in is very important.

The participants of the discussions also touched upon anti-missile defense systems. According to them, Gabala RLS, which Moscow proposed to be used jointly to US, is still remaining on the agenda.

â€œEnsuring the latter approach will require leadership from the United States and Russia. These two countries have special status by virtue of their massive weapons programs and long history as users of civilian nuclear power. They will remain in the forefront of the world nuclear industry in terms of the scale of their domestic generating and fuel cycle sectors and their exports of reactors, fuel and fuel servicesâ€,- noticed the participants.

The first order of U.S.-Russian business in 2010 is to conclude the follow-on agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired last December. Aside from completing that treaty, negotiating further cuts in the two countriesâ€™ nuclear arsenals, combating the proliferation of nuclear weapons and managing the growing interest in civil nuclear energy with its attendant proliferation risks pose key challenges for Washington and Moscow. However, they also create opportunities for the United States and Russia to deepen their bilateral cooperation and jointly take a global leadership role in shaping a safer and more secure world.

U.S.-Russian relations have been â€œresetâ€ over the past eleven months, and the renewed bilateral negotiations on reducing strategic nuclear forces have played a major role in this. At the beginning of 2010, Washington and Moscow are getting close but must still complete the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) follow-on treaty.

The issue of US-Russia relations in the Caucasus was also discussed at another event - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) Discussion on â€œThe United States, Russia, and the Future World Orderâ€ in Washington DC,

Speakers analysts Robert Kagan, John Ikenberry, Daniel Deudney, Stephen Sestanovich and Thomas Friedman pointed out that, as the Cold War was being ushered to a close, American and Russian leaders crafted a settlement with principles and arrangements intended to constitute a great-power peace as well as to extend the liberal international order. Today, the promise these arrangements once held now seems distant. The administration of President Barack Obama sees the repair of the relationship with Russia as a major foreign-policy objective, and has spent its first year ambitiously attempting to reset relations and place them on a more positive footing.