Russia and USA Refuse from Military Interference into Kyrgyz Affairs

Philip Gordon, the US Undersecretary for Europe and Eurasia, ruled out a possibility for the United States and Russia to arrange a joint peacemaking operation in Kyrgyzstan.

Photo: Russia and USA Refuse from Military Interference into Kyrgyz Affairs

“I doubt that somebody is considering this possibility,” he said, answering questions on this subject, on a seminar at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC.

The seminar was devoted to the US-Russian relations on the threshold of a regular bilateral summit. Nevertheless, the situation in Kyrgyzstan prevailed over other issues on the agenda. Gordon emphasized that the U.S. and Russia act in a body that does not mean “a zero-result game”, when the victory of one party, automatically means the failure of another, Itar-Tass reports.

Russia Today: Kyrgyz violence - allegations of genocide

The day before, a high-ranking US official told CNN that the United States was ready to send its military men to the troubled Asian nation. The official added that the USA did not have an intention to act alone at this point. It would be best to cooperate with the USA, Russia and other countries, he added.

Russia has promised to help Kyrgyzstan find the instigators of bloody riots in the republic. However, it is still unclear in which form the assistance will be provided. At the same time, Russia is not willing to send its peacemakers to the conflict zone. Instead, Russia will provide technological and humanitarian assistance to the troubled Asian nation.

The humanitarian cargo of one Russian plane that landed in Kyrgyzstan several days ago has been reportedly looted.

The USA will assign over $32 million on humanitarian assistance programs for Kyrgyzstan. As Philip Gordon noted, Washington’s and Moscow’s attitude to the crisis in Kyrgyzstan testifies to the fact that the relations between the two countries have improved considerably.

“We have been supporting close cooperation from the very first days of the conflict in the south of Kyrgyzstan,” the diplomat said, underlining relations between Russia and the United States. “We try to analyze how better implement common interest in stabilization of Kyrgyzstan and rendering help for refugees.”

“The more we would prove able to support this close and trust relations, the longer would a probability for adequate solutions exist, he continues. There is no evidence that the closure of the Transit Center Manas (the U.S. air base in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) was a Russian idea regarding to the situation in the region or Russia “presents its influence in the region,” he said.

Experts say that the deployment of peacemaking contingents in Kyrgyzstan is problematic because the nation’s government does not have a legitimate status. The republic has no parliament, whereas the president and the government are referred to as “acting.”

The interim government of Kyrgyzstan addressed to the nation and the international community on June 16. Kyrgyz officials said that it would be possible to reach stabilization in the country only through the solution of political issues – the Constitution referendum and the parliamentary elections. The government will announce the elections after June 27 – the day of the referendum – which a lot earlier than the originally scheduled date – October 10, 2010. Once the Kyrgyz authorities obtain the legitimate status, the nation will get an opportunity to start the talks about the deployment of foreign troops on its territory.

In the meantime, the Kyrgyz army and police have taken the situation in Osh under control. The situation in another troubled city, Jalal-Abad stabilizes too. Local residents begin to cautiously leave their homes in search for food. About a million Kyrgyz nationals are starving in the south of the country at the moment.

The death toll of violent clashes in the Asian nation has climbed to 191, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the nation’s Healthcare Ministry. The actual number of victims can be much higher, because people bury the bodies of their relatives without taking them to hospitals or morgues. Therefore, no one knows the exact number of victims. Kyrgyz officials acknowledge that their number can be a lot higher, whereas eyewitnesses claim that the death toll nears 2,000.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the fighting in Kyrgyzstan "appears to be orchestrated, targeted and well-planned." The collected evidence shows that the incident started with five planned attacks in Osh, conducted by armed and masked men.

Officials of Uzbekistan, a neighbor of the troubled nation, stick to the same opinion.

“There is an impression that the events have been orchestrated by serious third forces. The members of the interim government of Kyrgyzstan acknowledge that. They refer to considerable arms shipments to the nation and to the appearance of foreign hirelings, including professional snipers, in some areas of Kyrgyzstan, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Kyrgyzstan Abdulaziz Komilov said.