But Kazakh Defense Minister General Mukhtar Altynbayev opposed a Russian initiative to create a joint standing conventional military force for Central Asia within the CSTO's framework and told the media, "Creating a cumbersome force for permanent stationing would be worthless." This issue was deferred for the next meeting. The differences on budgeting and financing of the CSTO office , command and control systems and the Rapid Deployment Forces were not fully resolved .

President Robert Kocharian of Armenia (which is ranged against US ally Azerbaijan ) found comfort "in the CSTO's lineup, one in which we do not disagree among ourselves, but strive for practical results" , while current US bete noire in the region Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka praised the CSTO as a counter weight to the "unipolar dictatorship of a single super-power" [the United States]. For the first time, the Russian military now plans to hold joint ground-force exercises in 2006 at the command-and-staff level in the CSTO's "western region" and "southern region" -- that is, in Belarus and in Armenia so far held in its Central Asian region only.  Putin also took over the annual chairmanship of the Collective Security Council (the top political authority of the CSTO) from Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev.

Caspian Sea Basin ;

The US objectives for bases were to stem the flow of drugs, illicit nuclear material, and small arms illicitly crossing borders. But the Caspian basin is also rich in energy resources, and the United States supported construction of a new oil pipeline from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Ceyhan, Turkey. This has led to the charge that the United States was really after the region's oil. "[Washington is] killing two birds with one stone," fighting terrorists while securing energy sources In Azerbaijan , Ilham Aliev , son of late President Haidar Aliev , former Politburo member in Moscow and called father of the Azeri nation , who was allowed to succeed his father in a controversial election in 2003 , might find the US embrace too suffocating .He could be set aside if found not amenable to US designs in the region both for security of oil transportation which begins from Baku and  in US aims to attack or destabilize Iran from Azerbaijan .

As of next year, Central Asia will come fully online to Western energy markets, as twin oil and gas pipelines linking the Caspian sea to Turkey will begin to deliver .Ever since the region's oil wealth was freed after the collapse of the USSR , US policymakers worked hard to get Baku on its side and vice versa . The completion of this key strategic asset , 'East-West energy transit corridor' would run through Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia with oil also from Kazakhstan but exclude Iran and Russia.
Though U.S. officials deny that their forces are already stationed in Azerbaijan, they concede that the country is vital for the future of the US bases in the region. Stratford website reported in April that some U.S. aircrafts , troops and materiel were already in the country, and more forces and aircraft would be deployed later this year. It claimed that Azerbaijani government sources also confirmed that there was an agreement between Baku and Washington on locating U.S’s  "temporarily deployed mobile forces", in a deal struck at the Baku airport by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's and the Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade and Defense Minister Safar Abiyev ,acting on behalf of Ilham Aliyev who was conveniently out of the country at the time.

The recently forged access to a base in Azerbaijan, situated next to Iran, was reportedly subject to some heavy coercing. Discussions between the US secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and officials representing President Ilham Aliyev, publicly might have passed for negotiations but were first hand example of the very bullying that the US officials accuse Russia and China of in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Recently, NATO’s Assistant Secretary-General for Defense Planning and Operations , John Colston visited Baku and reported that "Special reports will be prepared soon, which will identify the main directions of cooperation between the alliance and Azerbaijan.” It is expected Azerbaijan is ready to join the alliance 2006. The issue of disputed Nagorno Karabakh is likely to be the key here.
Georgia has also been compensated and was recently paid US$ 64 million as part of a two-year "train and equip" mission, in which US Special Forces trained a 2,000 strong antiterrorist force that patrols the Pankisi Gorge, which is where Chechen rebels and AI Qaida fighters hide out. This easily outstrips the country's annual income from overseas workers and tourism. The company building the barracks and other facilities for the US trainers is Kellogg Brown & Root division of Halliburton industries, the former business of US vice president Dick Cheney, which is building plenty of other facilities in this region, as well as in Iraq.

Some facilities are quite advanced notably in Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova , all  Members  GUAM, an organization modeled on NATO's Conventional Forces in Europe, which was launched in 1996. The countries coordinate their defense policies and pool their diplomatic resources to oppose Russia. The main reason for the organization encouraged by USA  was to create more security through collaboration against possible destabilizing action by Russia .But all countries except Azerbaijan are dependent on supplies of oil and gas either from or through Russia which can employ tactics like suspending the supplies or redirecting export routes to manipulate the foreign and domestic policies of the members .

US failed to persuade its NATO ally Turkey in joining and letting US troops use Turkish territory in South East to open another front in north of Iraq in March 2003 . There are reports that in case US decides to attack Iran and ,plans for such contingencies are being formulated in Washington, among others by the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) ,it would involve "a large-scale air assault employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons", reported Counterpunch columnist Gary Leupp, in an article entitled 'Is Iran being set up?' "Do they even realize that southern Iraq and Iran constitute the heartland of historical Shiism, and that an attack on Iran will negate any goodwill among Shiites, U.S. forces have acquired in Iraq?", he wondered.

This could explain Baku’s preference to delay the arrival of the major U.S. forces' or its formal announcement until after the elections this November. "The current government would be accused of election fraud and treated accordingly by the West and Western-encouraged opposition",  according to the Stratfor analysis. It might meet the fate of US loyalist Sheverdnazde , ex President of next door Georgia., Ilham Aliyev favors a pluralistic foreign policy, having resolved differences with Russia over its troops in the Qabala base , northwest of Baku. It is believed that President Putin has tentatively agreed to allowed US troops ( for pipeline security ) being stationed there, but wants that he must be kept informed.

Like the complex Sunni , Shia and Kurd relationships in Iraq , which US did not take into account before invading Iraq , it might like to ponder that Azerbaijan is also a Shia nation , while Iran has  twice as many Azeri ( Turkic language cousin) speaking Iranians , including its spiritual leader Ali Khameini . The Muslim masses have seen through US game and its ruthless pursuit of interests .Instead US  might worry over Azeris and others sabotaging Baku Tiblsi Ceyhan pipeline .