Russia warned: withdraw from Georgia, or else

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/18/russia.georgia

a.. Ian Traynor in Brussels and Luke Harding in Tbilisi
a.. The Guardian,
a.. Monday August 18 2008
a.. Article history

European leaders warned Russia yesterday to withdraw its forces rapidly from 
Georgia or face unspecified consequences, as Moscow stalled on its pledges 
to honour a ceasefire and pull back the thousands of troops from the 
Caucasus republic.

With the US and European governments due to meet tomorrow to consider their 
options for the first time since the crisis erupted 10 days ago, President 
Nicolas Sarkozy of France threatened the Kremlin with an ultimatum for the 
first time, warning that more delays in a pullout "would have serious 
consequences on relations between Russia and the European Union".

The French warning echoed similar statements from the Americans in recent 
days, none of which appears to have rattled the Russians, whose forces 
remain in firm control of large tracts of Georgia well beyond the two 
separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"People are going to begin to wonder if Russia can be trusted," said 
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, yesterday of Moscow's failure 
to keep its promises.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, added to the pressure on Moscow by 
insisting on an "urgent" retreat. She also backed Georgian aspirations to 
join Nato. Downing Street said it would send the foreign secretary, David 
Miliband, to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, later this week.

In Moscow, President Dmitri Medvedev said Russia's troops would start 
withdrawing today. But there is a yawning gap between what Moscow and the 
west understand by withdrawal.

Yesterday, Russian forces appeared to be entrenching their positions on the 
ground barely 30 miles from Tbilisi.

Nato foreign ministers are to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels tomorrow 
on their response. The Americans could call for a suspension of the 
Nato-Russia council, a talking shop that goes back more than a decade and 
symbolises the post-cold war rapprochement that has been shaken by the 
invasion of Georgia.

The conflict has reopened old rifts among the western allies that recall the 
"old Europe-new Europe" divisions over the Iraq war in 2003.

France and Germany are keen to maintain smooth relations with Moscow and 
fear that the EU's mediation role will be jeopardised if they take sides.

The east Europeans in Nato and the EU are strongly on the side of Georgia, 
looking not to Brussels, Paris or Berlin, but to Washington for leadership. 
At the weekend, President Lech Kaczynski of Poland slammed France and 
Germany for being too soft on Moscow, and complained that they were trying 
to monopolise the EU position.

France was unapologetic. "We have to invent a new language with regard to 
Russia. That is what the European Union is trying to do," said Bernard 
Kouchner, the French foreign minister.

Sarkozy, the current EU president who negotiated a six-point ceasefire 
agreement with the Russians and Georgians last week, called for the 
"withdrawal, without delay, of all the Russian military forces that entered 
Georgia since August 7", when the fighting started.

The Russians, with an estimated 10,000 troops and 150 tanks in Georgia, show 
no intention of withdrawing the entire invasion force, and plan to leave 
troops in Georgia proper, beyond the two pro-Russian breakaway provinces. 
Yesterday, troops set up a series of checkpoints between Tbilisi and Gori. 
The first checkpoint near the town of Igoeti is less than 30 miles from the 
Georgian capital. Georgian drivers turned back by the Russians said they 
were told they needed permission from Russia's ambassador in Georgia to 
drive down the road - which connects the east and west of the country.

The Russian military continues to occupy around two thirds of the country, 
including several towns they were supposed to leave under the terms of the 
ceasefire deal agreed on Saturday by Medvedev.

The Kremlin said from today Russia would "begin the withdrawal of the 
military contingent moved to reinforce Russian peacekeepers after the 
Georgian aggression against South Ossetia". But it said the force would not 
retreat to Russia, only to South Ossetia, and that forces would stay in the 
"security zone."

The Russians intend to establish buffer zones in previously 
Georgian-controlled territory beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia. One of the 
most contentious points of the Sarkozy's ceasefire plan allows Moscow "to 
take additional security measures" beyond the two enclaves until "an 
international mechanism" is established.

The "international mechanism", entailing perhaps UN-mandated international 
peacekeepers, will take weeks to establish at a minimum. The EU is 
endeavouring to be the main middleman. But apart from perhaps sending a few 
dozen unarmed ceasefire monitors in the days ahead, it is unlikely to 
grapple with the bigger issues of peacekeepers until EU foreign ministers 
meet in Avignon in France next month.

Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said he would not be happy until 
every Russian soldier had left his country's territory. "Georgia will never 
give up a square kilometre of its territory," he said.

date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:36:23 -0400 author: George