Russia and the United States would seem to be on a collision course of sorts over the Trans-Caspian pipeline -- but both deny it, and Turkmenistan has no comment.

The Trans-Caspian is to be built under the sea from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan -- once they resolve their border differences -- and then connect to Europe. The pipeline is pivotal not only to Turkmenistan's plans to diversify energy corridors, but also those of the European Union.

The United States  would welcome any pipelines that would bring Caspian gas to Europe, but according to an editorial on the Turkmen exiles' site gundogar.org, Russia was suddenly getting religion about the environmental impact of pipelines -- something it is very selective about doing elsewhere.

At a press conference in Baku June 8, Ambassador Vladimir Dorokhin, Russia's envoy to Baku, said, "Russia, as a Caspian country, is against the laying of pipelines and gas lines along the bed of this unique body of water, which could harm the ecological state of the Caspian," regnum.ru quoted him as saying.

The Russian diplomat invoked an article in the Caspian Sea convention regarding the construction of trans-Caspian pipelines, and noted that both Russia and Iran believe the environmental issues have to be agreed upon by all five littoral states. But Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan believe that only countries directly involved on pipelines on their immediate territories should decide these matters.