Georgia’s PM Says He Enlisted U.S. Support Against Russia

Georgia’s Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli says he is confident he has enlisted full US support in the event of future diplomatic showdowns between the former Soviet republic and Russia, AFP reports.

Nogaideli also dismissed the idea Washington compromised backing for his government in October when it signed on to a UN resolution critical of Georgia, in what was seen as a bid to enlist Moscow’s support on North Korea. He expressed satisfaction after talks on energy issues and regional security with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“I do hope there is no further disagreements with Russia, there are already too many, but I am absolutely confident that we will have US support in all the issues we have discussed,” Nogaideli told AFP in an interview Wednesday.

The United States has strongly backed the Georgian leadership of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is determined to take his nation into NATO, despite fierce Russian opposition.

Washington was also supportive during a diplomatic row ignited when Georgia arrested four Russian soldiers in September and accused them of spying.

Moscow ordered the near total rupture of ties with its tiny neighbor, spelling trouble for Georgian businessmen and workers in Russia, and further straining Georgia’s impoverished economy.

But some observers believed Washington sacrificed Georgia’s interests for Russian support in the drive to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, when Washington backed a UN Security Council resolution in October urging Tblisi to remove forces from Kodori Gorge in the separatist, Russia-backed province of Abkhazia.

“To talk of a betrayal is totally senseless,” Nogaideli said earlier, in a speech at the School of Advanced International Studies here.

The Prime Minister, who also met World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz and top US trade officials during a four-day visit to Washington, also refuted claims Georgia faced a winter energy crunch following a Russian tariff hike.

He said the government would secure gas contracts in the next few weeks which could completely wean Georgia of its 100 percent reliance on Russian gas, to 20 percent or even zero percent of imports.

Azerbaijan is expected to be a major supplier along with Iran. Nogaideli rejected suggestions Washington was leaning on Georgia to avoid cooperating with its Islamic Republic foe.

“The Iran gas issue will be discussed with Iran (not) here in this town,” he said.

Nogaideli also signalled his country would not abandon its drive for membership of NATO, despite a warning by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of “colossal geopolitical upheaval” if Georgia and Ukraine are accepted.

“First of all, if they are worried about Georgia’s NATO membership, we should sit down and discuss it,” said Nogaideli in the interview.

“They need to tell us what colossal shift is this.

”We have chosen our path, we are not going to give up on this, we are going to get this job done.“

President George W. Bush said at the NATO summit last month in Riga, Latvia that the door to membership of the Western alliance remained open for both Georgia and Ukraine.

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