The United States on Friday encouraged Turkmenistan to diversify its energy markets as Washington hopes to shake off Moscow's grip on this energy-rich but reclusive Central Asian nation. Speaking at an energy conference in the Turkmen capital, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Krol said co-operation with Turkmenistan and other Central Asian states was high on US President Barack Obama's agenda.
"We want to support partnerships throughout Eurasia, and we will advocate for those partnerships that respect the sovereign states in the region," Krol said at the conference, a rare international meeting in Turkmenistan. "We strongly support the diversification of energy markets and transit routes, both among Central Asian states and between this region and broader international markets."
The conference's host, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has begun opening up his country to the West since the 2006 death of his predecessor, has welcomed the Western overtures. On Thursday, he defended Turkmenistan's "sovereign" right to seek new energy markets - comments that have been seen as a snub to Russia, which has a near-monopoly on Turkmen gas exports.
Ties between Russia and Turkmenistan soured dramatically in recent weeks, notably after an explosion on a pipeline in the Central Asian nation that exports gas to Russia. Ashgabat, in a rare outburst, blamed Russian gas giant Gazprom for causing the explosion by unexpectedly cutting its imports of natural gas, causing a pressure build-up.
Krol, the US official, said the accident highlighted the need to diversify energy routes.
"I believe this explosion, this accident, this phenomenon is one more argument in support of diversification of routes," he tolad reporters, speaking in Russian. "This does not imply any political hints but if something happens to a pipeline it would be best to have an alternative." Russia was represented at the conference by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's powerful deputy, Igor Sechin. The Russian delegation was largely absent from bilateral talks at the summit, and Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller did not address the audience as initially planned.
Krol stressed however that co-operation between the West and Turkmenistan would not be aimed against Russia: "Diversification does not come at the expense of longstanding, traditional trade ties." Turkmenistan is believed to have huge gas reserves under its largely desert territory, and the West has been angling to obtain access to them since the 2006 death of long-time dictator Saparmarat Niyazov.
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