NATO urges Russia to pull out from Georgia, freezes ties
(NSI News Source Info) BRUSSELS August 19, 2008: NATO foreign ministers said after talks on Tuesday that the alliance is freezing contacts with Russia until it pulls its troops out of Georgia, but stopped short of harsh measures against Moscow. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who visited Moscow last week to mediate in a peace deal after Russian troops entered Georgia following Tbilisi's offensive in breakaway South Ossetia, accused Moscow of breaking promises.
"We are very disappointed, because despite the promise made to us, there has been no withdrawal of troops. When you sign up to an agreement you must respect it," he said.
Russia came under severe criticism from NATO countries, notably the United States and Britain, after its major operation to expel Georgian forces from South Ossetia, and its peace enforcement mission in nearby areas of Georgia proper.
A joint declaration after the NATO ministerial talks in Brussels said: "We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual" with Russia, and that the alliance "is considering seriously the implications of Russia's actions for the NATO-Russia relationship."
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: "The future of our relations with Russia will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to abide by the words of President Dmitry Medvedev... which is not happening at the moment."
"We certainly have not the intention to close all doors," but "Russian troops will have to withdraw now to their pre-crisis positions," he said.
He said the bloc had suspended Russia-NATO Council sessions at all levels until Moscow fully complies with the peace plan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov branded the NATO statement 'biased' and 'anti-Russian', failing to recognize the atrocities committed by Georgia in the conflict. Russia says Georgian forces killed 1,600 civilians in the offensive, most of whom were Russian nationals.
"NATO is trying to turn an aggressor into a victim, is attempting to whitewash a criminal regime and save a fallen regime, and is taking a course toward re-arming the current Georgian leaders," the diplomat said.
He said he agreed with the NATO chief's assessment that 'business as usual' cannot continue.
"We said this a week ago - when NATO representatives came forward with biased assessments, we made the necessary conclusions."
Georgia's bid to join NATO was rebuffed at the alliance's April summit in Bucharest. However, the NATO ministers on Tuesday decided to create a joint NATO-Georgia commission similar to that already in place with Ukraine, and reaffirmed their plans to eventually accept Georgia as a NATO member.
Lavrov said NATO's encouragement of Georgia's ambitions to join the alliance are "dictated by a drive that can only be called anti-Russian, aimed at supporting an aggressive regime."
The NATO ministers' meeting was called last week by Washington, which has accused Russia of a "disproportionate" response to Georgia's attack on breakaway South Ossetia on August 8.
In the counteroperation to expel Georgian troops from the separatist republic, which broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s, and to reinforce Russian peacekeepers, Moscow sent some 10,000 troops and several hundred armored vehicles into the area.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "We have to deny Russian strategic objectives, which are clearly to undermine Georgia's democracy, to use its military capability to damage and in some cases destroy Georgian infrastructure and to try and weaken the Georgian state."
Russian troops are widely reported to remain in parts of Georgia, including the town of Gori, despite a pledge by President Medvedev that they would begin pulling out from the South Caucasus state on Monday.
Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members, called on Tuesday for the alliance to speed up its acceptance of Georgia and Ukraine into the organization in the interests of "regional security."
Soon after the NATO declaration, Russia announced that it would not participate in the NATO-led Open Spirit 2008 naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, and would refuse to receive a U.S. warship in the Far East port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
NATO urges Russia to pull out from Georgia, freezes ties
NATO urges Russia to pull out from Georgia, freezes ties
(NSI News Source Info) BRUSSELS August 19, 2008: NATO foreign ministers said after talks on Tuesday that the alliance is freezing contacts with Russia until it pulls its troops out of Georgia, but stopped short of harsh measures against Moscow. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who visited Moscow last week to mediate in a peace deal after Russian troops entered Georgia following Tbilisi's offensive in breakaway South Ossetia, accused Moscow of breaking promises.
"We are very disappointed, because despite the promise made to us, there has been no withdrawal of troops. When you sign up to an agreement you must respect it," he said.
Russia came under severe criticism from NATO countries, notably the United States and Britain, after its major operation to expel Georgian forces from South Ossetia, and its peace enforcement mission in nearby areas of Georgia proper.
A joint declaration after the NATO ministerial talks in Brussels said: "We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual" with Russia, and that the alliance "is considering seriously the implications of Russia's actions for the NATO-Russia relationship."
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: "The future of our relations with Russia will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to abide by the words of President Dmitry Medvedev... which is not happening at the moment."
"We certainly have not the intention to close all doors," but "Russian troops will have to withdraw now to their pre-crisis positions," he said.
He said the bloc had suspended Russia-NATO Council sessions at all levels until Moscow fully complies with the peace plan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov branded the NATO statement 'biased' and 'anti-Russian', failing to recognize the atrocities committed by Georgia in the conflict. Russia says Georgian forces killed 1,600 civilians in the offensive, most of whom were Russian nationals.
"NATO is trying to turn an aggressor into a victim, is attempting to whitewash a criminal regime and save a fallen regime, and is taking a course toward re-arming the current Georgian leaders," the diplomat said.
He said he agreed with the NATO chief's assessment that 'business as usual' cannot continue.
"We said this a week ago - when NATO representatives came forward with biased assessments, we made the necessary conclusions."
Georgia's bid to join NATO was rebuffed at the alliance's April summit in Bucharest. However, the NATO ministers on Tuesday decided to create a joint NATO-Georgia commission similar to that already in place with Ukraine, and reaffirmed their plans to eventually accept Georgia as a NATO member.
Lavrov said NATO's encouragement of Georgia's ambitions to join the alliance are "dictated by a drive that can only be called anti-Russian, aimed at supporting an aggressive regime."
The NATO ministers' meeting was called last week by Washington, which has accused Russia of a "disproportionate" response to Georgia's attack on breakaway South Ossetia on August 8.
In the counteroperation to expel Georgian troops from the separatist republic, which broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s, and to reinforce Russian peacekeepers, Moscow sent some 10,000 troops and several hundred armored vehicles into the area.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "We have to deny Russian strategic objectives, which are clearly to undermine Georgia's democracy, to use its military capability to damage and in some cases destroy Georgian infrastructure and to try and weaken the Georgian state."
Russian troops are widely reported to remain in parts of Georgia, including the town of Gori, despite a pledge by President Medvedev that they would begin pulling out from the South Caucasus state on Monday.
Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members, called on Tuesday for the alliance to speed up its acceptance of Georgia and Ukraine into the organization in the interests of "regional security."
Soon after the NATO declaration, Russia announced that it would not participate in the NATO-led Open Spirit 2008 naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, and would refuse to receive a U.S. warship in the Far East port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
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