NATO Does not View South Caucasus as Area of Competition with Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - "We cooperate extensively with Russia. We cooperate with Russia in many issues, including the Southern Caucasus issue," special representative of the NATO Secretary General to South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons stated, when asked whether positions of Moscow and Brussels coincided on the Southern Caucasus. In his words, the Alliance does not regard the Southern Caucasus, as any other region, as "an area of conflict, or competition" with Russia, as "we have good relationships with Russia." Thus, there should not be any conflicting issue between Brussels and Moscow, i.e. between NATO and Russia. When commenting on the conflicting information over establishment of US armed bases in Azerbaijan, Robert Simmons said, "To best of my knowledge, the United States is not going to establish its armed bases in the Southern Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, or any other country of the region. Washington delivers assistance on multilateral and bilateral basis. But I've never heard that the United States was going to station operative armed forces in the Southern Caucasus," reported Trend agency.