US to Russia: Back Off in Georgia
May 07, 2008
International Herald Tribune
The Bush administration on May 6 sharply criticized Russia for what it called a series of "provocative actions" in the dispute between the former Soviet republic of Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia.
Russia's moves that came under fire included what the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, said was Moscow's downing of an unmanned, unarmed Georgian spy plane in Georgian air space.
Russia, a longtime backer of Abkhazia and its ambitions for recognition as an independent state, also has bolstered its peacekeeping forces along the administrative border separating Georgia and Abkhazia.
Moscow also unilaterally withdrew from trade and military sanctions that were imposed on Abkhazia by a grouping of former Soviet republics that includes both Russia and Georgia.
"These steps have significantly and unnecessarily heightened tensions in the region," Perino said.
She said Moscow must "de-escalate and reverse its measures," begin playing a true mediator role in the dispute and reiterate its commitment to Georgia's "territorial integrity and sovereignty."
Perino also warned Georgia not to take any military action to settle its separatist conflicts or to respond to Russia's moves.
Georgia has announced that it is withdrawing from a 1995 agreement that coordinated air defenses among countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The move is expected to have little practical effect, but Russia again accused Georgia of purposely exacerbating tensions and planning to use military force in Abkhazia.
The recent developments have fueled international fears that full- scale fighting could break out involving Georgia, Abkhazia and a strengthened Russian peacekeeping force. A Georgian minister said Tuesday that Russia's deployment of extra troops in of Abkhazia had brought the prospect of war "very close."
"We literally have to avert war," Temur Iakobashvili, a Georgian state minister, said in Brussels. Asked how close to such a war the situation was, he replied: "Very close, because we know Russians very well."
"We know what the signals are when you see propaganda waged against Georgia," he said. "We see Russian troops entering our territories on the basis of false information."
Abkhazia and another region, South Ossetia, have had de facto independence since the 1990s, and Moscow's traditional support for the two regions has long angered Georgia. Russia also opposes Georgia's efforts to draw closer to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, saying Georgian membership in the alliance would pose a direct threat to Russia.
At a banking event in Madrid, Deputy Finance Minister Dimitri Gvindadze of Georgia said his country's economy was holding up despite the tension.
However, the Fitch ratings agency said that a conflict would likely hurt Georgia's ratings but not, immediately, those of Russia. "Obviously if we have an unfreezing of the conflict that will be extremely negative for the country and would lead to negative ratings action," Edward Parker of Fitch said in London, referring to Georgia.
The new Russian troop contingent began arriving in Abkhazia last week. Moscow has not said how many troops would be added but that the total would remain within the 3,000 limit allowed under a UN- brokered cease-fire pact signed in 1994. Diplomats expect the reinforcements to be of the order of 1,200.
Russian soldiers acting as peacekeepers patrol areas between Georgian and Abkhazian forces, but handing full military control of the breakaway province to the Kremlin would alarm both the Georgian government and its allies in the West.
http://www.military.com/news/article/us-to-russia-back-off-in-georgia.html?ESRC=eb.nl
Provost
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States 1924-1929
