Russia Silent on Georgian Uranium Sting

Russia's Ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko speaks to the media upon his arrival at the Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007. Russian ambassador returned to Georgia as Russia began restoring full diplomatic ties with Georgia after four months of high tensions. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) (Shakh Aivazov - AP)

MOSCOW -- Russia responded with silence Thursday after Georgia revealed a foiled effort by a Russian man to sell weapons-grade uranium, an episode that appeared to cast doubt on the nation's ability to halt the black market trade in nuclear materials.

The origin of 3.5 ounces of highly enriched uranium seized early last year in the former Soviet republic remains unclear, and some experts accused Georgia of trying to embarrass Russia at a time of strained relations between Moscow and Washington.

The Russian government said nothing publicly about the inquiry. An unidentified official at the nuclear agency Rosatom, quoted by the Interfax news agency, denied Georgian accusations that Russia was not cooperating with an investigation of the case.

U.S. and Georgian officials told The Associated Press that Georgian authorities, aided by the CIA, set up a sting operation that led to the arrest last year of a Russian citizen who tried to sell a small amount of uranium enriched to about 90 percent U-235, suitable for use in an atomic bomb.

Georgian officials said attempts to trace the source of the nuclear material, and to investigate the man's claim that he had access to larger quantities of highly enriched uranium, failed because Russia did not cooperate.

The Rosatom official was quoted as saying that Georgian authorities had given Russia too small a sample to determine its origin, and had refused to provide other information.

Georgian Interior Ministry official Shota Utiashvili identified the detained man as Oleg Khinsagov, a resident of Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia, a region of Russia that borders Georgia.

Utiashvili said Georgian authorities had thwarted an earlier smuggling attempt also involving a small amount of highly enriched uranium in 2003, but gave no further details.

Rosatom declined to comment, and the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Rosatom and Federal Security Service officials attended an early interrogation of the suspect, and Russian authorities were given a small sample of the nuclear material, the Rosatom official said, according to Interfax. But Georgia offered no further cooperation, the unidentified official was quoted as saying.

The account appeared to be aimed at deflecting accusations that Moscow has not kept its nuclear materials locked up, and has not cooperated fully in efforts to halt trade in these materials. Russia says it is working actively in both areas with other nations, including the United States.

Alexander Pikayev, a Moscow-based defense analyst who is co-chairman of the Committee of Scientists for Global Security, said there have been thefts of nuclear material from Russian facilities in the past.