US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said the US wants to work with Azerbaijan on additional routes for exporting the region's oil reserves to the West. He also pledged support for US allies in the former Soviet Union. A BBC correspondent says the US sees the states as key allies in protecting access to the region's energy supplies. Mr Cheney - who will also visit Georgia and Ukraine - spoke as US officials revealed President Bush was to announce a $1bn (£0.5bn) aid package to Georgia.
US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said the US wants to work with Azerbaijan on additional routes for exporting the region's oil reserves to the West.
He also pledged support for US allies in the former Soviet Union.
A BBC correspondent says the US sees the states as key allies in protecting access to the region's energy supplies.
Mr Cheney - who will also visit Georgia and Ukraine - spoke as US officials revealed President Bush was to announce a $1bn (£0.5bn) aid package to Georgia.
And given that you only have a couple of hundred kilometers between Russia and Iran, it's going to be hard to find routes that don't cross either and are not close to Russian military hardware. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
