Civil Georgia reports that Russia will still go ahead with its threat to blockade Georgia even though four alleged Russian spies arrested in Georgia have now been released. Not only is such action extreme to say the least, but by punishing Georgia, Armenia will also suffer and not least because 90 percent of trade goes through the Republic’s northern neighbour.

Russia Mounts Pressure by Cutting Links with Georgia

Russia will cut air, sea, land and railway links, as well as postal communication with Georgia despite the latter’s move to hand over four Russian military officers charged of spying.

President Saakashvili said that putting this kind of pressure on a neighboring country is “uncivilized,” but he also added that Russia’s move should not be overestimated. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, who visited Tbilisi on October 2 and helped to solve spy row with Russia, said that embargos will not help to solve tensions.

[…]

Chief of the Russian air navigation service Alexander Naradko said air traffic with Georgia will be stopped starting from October 3.

Officials in Moscow deny that the decision is politically-motivated. Naradko said that non-payment of USD 3,6 million by Georgian air companies for air traffic service by Russia since 2001 is a reason behind the decision.

Total of three Georgian companies operate Tbilisi-Moscow flights: Georgian Airways, Georgian National Airlines and TbilAviaMsheni. Representatives of all the three companies have already denied allegations over having a debt.

[…]

Officials in Moscow said on October 2 that cutting of postal link was decided after many parcels sent to Tbilisi failed to reach destination.

No specific reasons behind cutting of land, sea and railway link were yet cited.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Russia has indirectly hit Armenia without thought while following its obsession in punishing Georgia for daring to demand that Russian troops leave its soil. The Armenian President knows this only so well which is why he hoped that the crisis between Tbilisi and Moscow would be settled amicably.

Events in Georgia Always Have Impact on Armenia

30.09.2006 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The events taking place in Georgia always have an impact on Armenia. Roads close, problems emerge in the economy and the Armenian-Russian relations, RA President Robert Kocharian said at joint press conference with French President Jacques Chirac. According to the Armenian leader, the problems between Georgia and Russia will be resolved in the near future. “I have always said both to Georgia and Russia that Armenia is interested in normal relationships between these two states,” the RA President underscored.

Like I said, this is not the first time something like this has happened and it probably won’t be the last. Thankfully, not all of Armenia’s trade goes via Georgia to Russia so at least the way is still open to Turkey and Georgia’s Black Sea Ports. However, as in 2004, such news is going to hit some businesses hard and call into question Yerevan’s “strategic” relationship with Moscow.

Russia reopened its border with Georgia and Azerbaijan on Friday, ending a nearly two-month transport embargo that severed one of Armenia’s main supply lines and prompted criticism of Moscow’s regional policy in Yerevan.

[…]

The lifting of the blockade came two days after a phone conversation between Presidents Robert Kocharian and Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said on Thursday that it took place at Kocharian’s request but gave no details. There was no word on the conversation from the Armenian president’s press service.

Armenian officials said earlier that Kocharian has repeatedly raised the negative impact of the border closing with Putin. They said the phone talks between the two leaders were instrumental in the brief reopening of the Verkhny Lars crossing earlier this month. The move allowed hundreds of Armenian trucks, personal cars and buses stranded on its Russian side for more than a month to cross into Georgia and reach Armenia.

The border’s reopening, which coincided with the start of Kocharian’s official visit to Georgia, was rather unexpected in the light of uncompromising statements made by senior Russian officials. Visiting Yerevan as recently as last week, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said that Verkhny Lars will remain shut for at least one for month.

The checkpoint handles up to a quarter of Armenia’s commercial exchange with or through Russia. Its closure hit particularly hard small and medium-sized Armenian companies involved in import and export operations. There are still no credible estimates of the losses suffered by them as a result.

The embargo drew an almost unanimous criticism from Armenian politicians, political analysts and media commentators. Some of them have accused Moscow of disregarding its main regional ally and urged Yerevan to reconsider its pro-Russian foreign policy orientation.

Somewhat ironically, a pro-Government paper here suggested back in 2004 that such an action by Russia hurts Armenia more than it hurts Georgia. So, with friends like this, who needs enemies?

Georgia, which has sea ports and receives large western loans, does not at all submit to Russia’s requests to capture and extradite them [terrorists] to Russia. Thus, the problem is not in closing the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint but in turning the measures against Georgia into “targeted” ones. We think that in this context economic and political steps could be taken which will not directly affect Armenia’s interests. This gives us the hope that they will finally find mutually acceptable solutions that will take Armenian cargo transportation out of this misunderstanding.

As direct links with Turkey and Azerbaijan are obviously not there because of the Karabakh conflict, let’s hope this new development isn’t true, or that if it is, Russia reconsiders. It won’t mean that Armenia is blockaded on three — instead of two — of its four borders, but it will mean that we’re pretty close.