Cheney proposes stronger ties with Caucasus states

US:US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney threw down the gauntlet to Russia yesterday by telling the countries of the Caucasus and central Asia that Washington wanted to strengthen ties with the region and build more pipelines to take oil and gas to western markets.

"We've met this evening in the shadow of the recent Russian invasion of Georgia," Mr Cheney said alongside Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev at an official residence overlooking the Caspian Sea, whose energy riches are coveted by Russia, the US and EU.

"President Bush has sent me here with a clear and simple message for the people of Azerbaijan and this entire region: the United States has deep and abiding interests in your well-being and security," he said.

"The United States believes that, together with the nations of Europe, including Turkey, we must work with Azerbaijan and other countries in the Caucasus and central Asia on additional routes for energy exports that ensure the free flow of resources."

Russia's military intervention in Georgia has sharpened western fears that Moscow is re-asserting control over its former Soviet dominions and establishing a stranglehold on oil and gas resources in the region.

Though accused by human rights groups of cracking down on opposition parties and free media, Azerbaijan is a valued energy partner for the White House and the EU - at least two major pipelines already take oil and gas from Azerbaijan, across Georgia, to Turkey and the west.

Mr Cheney is due today in Georgia, which is to receive a US package of roughly $1 billion in aid to help rebuilding after its conflict with Russia. The International Monetary Fund has approved a $750 million stand-by loan.

Fuelling Russian claims of a Nato naval build-up in the Black Sea, the USS Mount Whitney was nearing Georgia last night with more than 17 tonnes of humanitarian supplies. Moscow has accused the US of delivering weapons under the cover of aid.

From Georgia Mr Cheney will move on to Ukraine - where pro-western leaders fear Moscow may seek to destabilise the largely ethnic-Russian Crimea region.

The hawkish US vice president will not visit Russia, where president Dmitry Medvedev has rejected any future co-operation with Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili, calling him a "political corpse".