Georgian mass media reported about the opening of “Upper Lars” checkpoint, the new checkpoint opening ceremony took place in Russian-Georgian border in Kazbegi.

The construction was funded by the United States and managed by a corps of U.S. army engineers. US 2.4 $ mln was spent on the project. U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft, Georgian Finance Minister Kakha Baindurashvili as well as Zaza Gogava, the chief of border police and Grigoriy Grigalashvili, the chief of patrol forces participated in the ceremony. The U.S. side expressed hope that Georgia and Armenia will restore economic and tourist ties, and the Kazbegi station (Upper Lars form Russian side) will contribute to safe transportation of people and goods between the countries.

In his interview with Azerbaijan-based 1news.az., Tengiz Pkhaladze, the head of the Georgian Center for Geopolitical Research, expressed the opinion that the newly opened checkpoint will make full-fledged traffic possible. “Washington’s aim is control over the entire South Caucasus, but Armenia frustrates all their plans, and they seek for an alternative. The opening of the Upper Lars checkpoint, and the Turkish-Armenian border negotiations are part of this plan,” the expert said. It is noteworthy Russia has not tried to conduct direct negotiations with Georgia, but held talks with United States.

“It seems Moscow and Washington agreed on some issue related to the Caucasus. Let us not forget that Russia used to express discontent with the possible reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border. At present, however, Moscow even welcomes these agreements. The checkpoint opening has also been perceived calmly by Russia. However one cannot say the checkpoint will work properly, as the Russian side used to repeatedly open and then close it in the past. I do not want to be too optimistic over Upper Lars,” he said.

Earlier, the political analyst Armen Gevorgyan told NEWS.am that Washington and Moscow shared roles in the settlement of South Caucasian problems. According to Gevorgyan, the United States has assumed part of the responsibility for the settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations, and the initiative policy of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is evidence thereof. The Russian side pledged to contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process – the Maydorf Declaration and the number of Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meetings in Moscow are evidence thereof as well.

Commenting on the reports on the planned reopening of the Upper Lars checkpoint and the U.S. contribution the process, Gevorkyan underlined: “U.S-Russian agreements seem to be of larger scope than we expected. After the August war (war in South Ossetia) Russia became more compliant, agreeing to a dialogue with Washington. The matter concerns the full-scale unblocking of the region by joint efforts, without touching upon South Ossetia and Abkhazia problem, and drawing parallels with Kosovo. Armenian-Turkish border opening is senseless if commodity flow stalls at the Georgian-Russian and Armenian-Azerbaijani borders. Most likely, the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and a breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process are part of the unblocking plan in the South Caucasus.”