MOSCOW RETREATS ON CASPIAN DIVISION.

During a visit to Baku, Russian energy minister Yuri Safrannik said that any talks about the future of the Caspian were “unjustified,” Segodnya reported June 1. His remarks suggested that Moscow would not press its argument that the Caspian must be characterized as a lake, rather than as a sea, for purposes of defining the ownership of oil under its surface. Such a retreat would be welcome in Baku, but Safrannik’s comments may be no more than a temporary negotiating tactic.

Georgia Reopens Soviet-Era Bases.