Azerbaijan: Baku Wary of Russian-Georgian Border Reopening

The re-opening of a Georgian-Russian border checkpoint, a vital gateway to Russia for Armenian exports, has put another key regional player, Azerbaijan, on guard.

Baku expressed hope on March 2 that the route would not become an arms supply route for its sworn enemy, Armenia. Azerbaijani officials said that Baku would monitor cargo traffic and take immediate measures, if they detected Russian arms shipments to Armenia. In 1994, Azerbaijan lost a six-year war to Armenian and separatist forces for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"If we receive any information [on arms supplies to Armenia], we will react by negotiating with the Georgian side," Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov was quoted by the News.az service as saying on March 2. Azerbaijan and Georgia share the closest ties among the South Caucasus trio, but Tbilisi has repeatedly said that it has to accommodate the interests of its southern neighbor, Armenia, which heavily relies on access to Russia for trade.