What's bad old Dick up to now?

Press TV reports:

US Vice President Dick Cheney starts a tour of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine which have become more wary of Russia.

On the first leg of his tour to the ex-Soviet republics beginning Wednesday, Cheney wants to show that Washington stands by its allies in this region despite the recent Russian conflict with Georgia.

Cheney begins his week-long tour with his first stop in Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea which pumps nearly one million barrels a day of high quality crude - equivalent to about one percent of the world's oil supplies - through a BP-led pipeline which passes through Georgia and Turkey.

After the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia, Azerbaijan has said that it will be rerouting a part of its crude through Russia.

Cheney's next heads to Georgia and from there to Ukraine for meetings with pro-Western leaders in Kiev, which like Tbilisi is seeking NATO membership.

He will round off his trip with a visit to Italy.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday it was time for Washington to re-evaluate its policy of supporting Georgia's staunchly pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili.