TBILISI: Armenian politician praises Putin’s proposed CIS revival

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 5 2007

Armenian politician praises Putin’s proposed CIS revival
By M. Alkhazashvili

(Translated by Diana Dundua)
Wednesday, December 5

Aram Sarkisian, head of the Armenian Democratic Party, has praised
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent pledge to reinvigorate the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a geopolitical unit,
according to the news agency Regnum.

`Armenia would be part of this geopolitical unit. The key components
of the north-south alliance would be Armenia, Russia, and Iran,’
Sarkisian said. He also lauded the Russian president’s comments that
the post-Soviet space is not a `chessboard’ for geopolitical games.

Putin was apparently referring to NATO expansion – which Georgia is
hoping to be part of – and the proposed US missile defense system that
could see ten missile `interceptors’ installed in Poland.

`The post-Soviet space on which the CIS was based should have become
a partner of Europe, but plans have changed,’ Sarkisian said, adding
that the West’s actions were `an attempt to separate Russia from the
post-Soviet space and weaken its influence [there].’