U.S. suggests inviting Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to Russia-EU energy summit

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney renewed his call for cooperation between Europe and Washington over the Georgia crisis, Italy's Foreign Minister said Sunday.



Franco Frattini said that during talks he and Cheney expressed their "shared wish for intense collaboration between Europe and the United States."



"This Caucasus crisis cannot be solved unless there is intense collaboration ... which we will have," Frattini said after the 40-minute meeting on the sidelines of a conference on Lake Como.



The two also discussed EU dependence on Russian oil and gas. Cheney called on Western nations to jointly prevent Russia from "using its position as a dominant energy supplier to intimidate its neighbors."



Frattini said Cheney suggested inviting Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The foreign minister welcomed the suggestion and said he would relay it to France, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.



The opinion of Europe and Washington doesn't seem so undivided when it comes to the dates to accept Georgia and Ukraine to NATO. Cheney advocates the soonest membership, reasoning that Russia "pressurizes by its vast energy wealth and hinders the development of young democracies."



According to Frattini, the decision of Europe is to neither artificially accelerate nor slow down the acceptance of new members, The Associated Press reports.