Italy's Berlusconi urges against new standoff with Russia
(NSI News Source Info) ROME - September 1, 2008: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Monday he was taking steps to prevent a new standoff between the West and Russia over the recent conflict in Georgia.
Speaking on Canale 5 ahead of an EU summit to be held later on Monday, which will focus on the Georgia crisis and relations with Russia, Berlusconi said: "It is absolutely essential to prevent a situation where the current crisis in the Caucasus is used as a fuse to ignite a new Cold War."
Some members of the 27-nation bloc, including Britain and Poland, have called for sanctions against Russia and for the postponement of talks on a comprehensive cooperation pact with Moscow, over its military operation in Georgia, which followed Tbilisi's August 8 attack on breakaway South Ossetia.
The Italian premier, the Kremlin's strongest ally in the EU, said he had spoken to the Russian, U.S. and some European leaders on the telephone in the last few days, and found that not all of his colleagues realized how dangerous a new confrontation between the West and Russia could be.
Berlusconi said he hoped European Union leaders would reach a common stance at the summit, and urged them to pass a "declaration aimed at dialogue, not confrontation."
"I hope an agreement will be reached not to impose sanctions against Russia," he said.
Western powers have threatened Russia with isolation over its retaliation to Georgia's offensive to seize South Ossetia, and Moscow's subsequent recognition of the province and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states.
Russia has argued that its operation was needed to protect civilians in the region, most of whom are Russian citizens, and also to protect its peacekeepers from Georgian attacks.
Moscow has laid partial blame for the bloodshed and devastation in South Ossetia on the United States and other Western powers, saying their military backing and political support encouraged Tbilisi to strike.
Berlusconi also called on the NATO-Russia Council to continue its work.
NATO said in late August it had suspended Russia-NATO Council sessions over Moscow's failure to comply with the France-brokered peace plan to resolve the conflict. Russia, which denied the accusation, later suspended all ties with the Western military alliance, accusing it of building up forces off Georgia's Black Sea coast.
Berlusconi said: "Russia remains a military power, a country whose nuclear capabilities are enough to destroy the planet's population 10 times over, a country whose economy has grown 7-8% annually, a country that is rich in oil and gas that is needed by Europe."
He said the West stands to gain more from developing cooperation with Russia, than forcing it to turn to China and other Eastern nations in search of partners.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Italy's Berlusconi urges against new standoff with Russia
Italy's Berlusconi urges against new standoff with Russia
(NSI News Source Info) ROME - September 1, 2008: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Monday he was taking steps to prevent a new standoff between the West and Russia over the recent conflict in Georgia.
Speaking on Canale 5 ahead of an EU summit to be held later on Monday, which will focus on the Georgia crisis and relations with Russia, Berlusconi said: "It is absolutely essential to prevent a situation where the current crisis in the Caucasus is used as a fuse to ignite a new Cold War."
Some members of the 27-nation bloc, including Britain and Poland, have called for sanctions against Russia and for the postponement of talks on a comprehensive cooperation pact with Moscow, over its military operation in Georgia, which followed Tbilisi's August 8 attack on breakaway South Ossetia.
The Italian premier, the Kremlin's strongest ally in the EU, said he had spoken to the Russian, U.S. and some European leaders on the telephone in the last few days, and found that not all of his colleagues realized how dangerous a new confrontation between the West and Russia could be.
Berlusconi said he hoped European Union leaders would reach a common stance at the summit, and urged them to pass a "declaration aimed at dialogue, not confrontation."
"I hope an agreement will be reached not to impose sanctions against Russia," he said.
Western powers have threatened Russia with isolation over its retaliation to Georgia's offensive to seize South Ossetia, and Moscow's subsequent recognition of the province and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states.
Russia has argued that its operation was needed to protect civilians in the region, most of whom are Russian citizens, and also to protect its peacekeepers from Georgian attacks.
Moscow has laid partial blame for the bloodshed and devastation in South Ossetia on the United States and other Western powers, saying their military backing and political support encouraged Tbilisi to strike.
Berlusconi also called on the NATO-Russia Council to continue its work.
NATO said in late August it had suspended Russia-NATO Council sessions over Moscow's failure to comply with the France-brokered peace plan to resolve the conflict. Russia, which denied the accusation, later suspended all ties with the Western military alliance, accusing it of building up forces off Georgia's Black Sea coast.
Berlusconi said: "Russia remains a military power, a country whose nuclear capabilities are enough to destroy the planet's population 10 times over, a country whose economy has grown 7-8% annually, a country that is rich in oil and gas that is needed by Europe."
He said the West stands to gain more from developing cooperation with Russia, than forcing it to turn to China and other Eastern nations in search of partners.
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