BAKU, Azerbaijan — The U.S. Embassy says Vice President Cheney has arrived in Azerbaijan as part of a tour in support of Russia’s southern neighbors.
Cheney is expected to meet with Azerbaijan’s president and other top leaders today.
The vice president will later head to Georgia, where Washington is trying bolster support for Mikhail Saakashvili’s U.S.-allied government, battered by last month’s short war with Russia.
Cheney will also pay a visit to Ukraine for talks with leaders there.
The trip comes amid increasingly tense relations between Washington and Moscow.
Following the war in Georgia, Russia has boldly its right to exert clout over what it says is its historic sphere of influence — including many former Soviet republics.
The Associated Press
