U.S. Encourages Tbilisi’s Diplomacy in Trans-Caspian Projects

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza encouraged the Georgian leadership on March 30 to engage in diplomacy with Turkmenistan to help develop trans-Caspian pipeline projects to deliver Central Asian gas to the European markets via the Caucasus and Turkey.

Speaking at a news conference after talks with Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze in Tbilisi, Bryza hailed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s “dramatic decision” not to buy Russian gas this winter, but to depend on its own resources and also to export some of its gas to Georgia.

“President Saakashvili’s personal diplomacy with President Aliyev was crucial for making this happen,” Bryza said.

“And now the diplomacy of Madam Speaker [Nino Burjanadze] and President Saakashvili with distant neighbors in Turkmenistan promises to open up a whole new generation of large-scale, huge in fact, gas infrastructure projects that will help Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and the rest of south east Europe to diversify its energy supplies,” he added.

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