July 8, 2009 - 00:33 AMT
Caucasus rivalry spot for Russia and U.S.
Talks between Russian and U.S. Presidents did not prove efficient, according to an Armenian expert.

"Caucasus will remain a spot of strong rivalry between Russia and U.S. At that, Turkey will continue acting as United States' plenipotentiary in the region," Sergey Shakaryants told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Not long before the Obama-Medvedev meeting, Ankara met Russia halfway: it opened talks on Caucasus stability platform with Iran, a move, Washington did not expect," he said, adding that if Turkey tries to revive last year's Caucasian Five format, Russia will toughen position.

"Taking into account the latest regional developments, Moscow can initiate inclusion of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the security platform. It can even go further and suggest inclusion of Nagorno Karabakh as well as Ajaria and Nakhijevan," Shakaryants said.