Русская версияRussian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was to stop military
operations in Georgia, international news agencies reported on
Tuesday, Aug.
12.
Medvedev declared that the safety of Russian peacekeeping forces
and Russian citizens had been guaranteed during a televised meeting
which was then reported on by news agencies in Russia.
"I have taken the decision to end the operation to force Georgian
authorities into peace," Medvedev said. "The purpose of the
operation has been achieved.... The security of our peacekeeping
forces and the civilian population has been restored," he said at
the meeting with Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and the head of
the military's general staff, Nikolai Makarov.
During a meeting Tuesday with his Russian counterpart at the
Kremlin, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Russia to follow
through on an order to end military operations in Georgia.
"What you are saying is good news," Sarkozy said after Medvedev
informed him that he had ordered an end to Moscow's massive
military operation in the neighboring ex-Soviet state. "It is now
necessary to consolidate the cease-fire."
The EU's understanding
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Sarkozy said he understands Russia's interest in the Caucasus
Sarkozy, who currently holds the European Union's rotating
presidency, said he understood Moscow's desire to protect Russians
living outside the country, but he added that the international
community also had an interest in seeing Georgia's sovereignty
respected.
"It's perfectly normal that Russia would want to defend the
interests both of Russians in Russia and Russophones outside
Russia," Sarkozy said. "It is also normal for the international
community to want to guarantee the integrity, sovereignty and
independence of Georgia."
France has pushed a three-point peace plan aimed at returning the
situation in Georgia to what it was before hostilities broke out
late last week.
Medvedev, however, said the Russian Defense Ministry had been given
orders to resume military operations at any time if any violence
would again be perpetrated against the population by South Ossetia.
A senior Russian military commander also said that while a
cease-fire by the forces and a halt in their advance into Georgia
did not mean that all operations would be scrapped.
"If we have received the order to cease fire, this does not mean
that we have stopped all actions, including reconnaissance,"
General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said at a briefing.
Moscow demands Georgian president stands down
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Lavrov demanded Saakashvili's resignation
Moments earlier, at a press conference, Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov called on Saakashvili to stand down.
"We believe that Mr. Saakashvili cannot be our partner in
negotiations. It would be better if he went," said Lavrov during a
press conference in Moscow with his Finnish counterpart and OSCE
chair Alexander Stubb.
In military developments, Georgian authorities said Russia's air
force had again attempted to bomb a strategic oil pipeline,
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, which connects the Caspian Sea to the
Mediterranean via Georgia.
There was no immediate word on whether the pipeline had been
damaged. Georgian authorities said Sunday that Russia had tried to
hit the pipeline but missed, while Russia denied trying to target
it.
Fighting in Abkhazia
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Georgia says Russia has bombed the pipeline region
Elsewhere, the breakaway region of Abkhazia said Tuesday its forces
have now gained control of most of the Kodori Gorge, previously
controlled by Georgia.
Sergei Bagapsh, president of the region located in north-western
Georgia, said Abkhazian troops had taken the towns of Ashara and
Tchalta and that the forces were advancing.
"The Abkhazian army continues to proceed successfully toward the
border with Georgia," the pro-Moscow Bagapsh said, according to a
report by the Interfax agency.
Until recently the upper Kodori Gorge region had been administered
by Georgia, which citing international law insists that Abkhazia is
part of its territory.
NATO meets to discuss situation
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NATO says it has no plans to meet with Russia
In Brussels, NATO diplomats were meeting to discuss the
transatlantic alliance's response to the conflict in Georgia as
Medvedev's statements came through.
The closed-door talks in Brussels involved NATO Secretary General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the ambassadors of the alliance's 26 member
states, plus their colleague from Georgia.
Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili had planned to attend
the meeting but had to cancel her trip to Brussels at the last
minute.
NATO officials say no date has yet been set for a separate
NATO-Russia meeting that had been requested on Monday by the
Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin.
Georgia is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program
and has been promised full membership of the alliance at an
unspecified later stage.
The prospect of the former Soviet republic joining the
transatlantic alliance has infuriated Moscow.
NATO last week expressed "serious concern" about the unfolding of
events in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia.
Saakashvili: biggest action in Abkhazia
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Saakashvili said Moscow is attempting to take over Georgia
European diplomats met Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili in
Tbilisi on Monday and convinced him to sign a draft cease-fire
agreement.
Saakashvili called on the West to provide more than words of
support and emergency aid to Georgia.
"So far we have got from them moral support and humanitarian aid,
but we need more than that to stop this barbaric aggression," he
said in a televised address Monday. "The majority of Georgia's
territory is occupied."
Saakashvili remained defiant late Monday in the face of Russian
attacks into Georgia and accused Moscow of committing "ethnic
cleansing" in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.
In an interview by telephone with US broadcaster CNN, Saakashvili
said that the "biggest action" was currently in Abkhazia, where he
alleged that ethnic Georgians were being forced out by Russian
forces.
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"I directly accuse Russia of ethnic cleansing," he said.
Saakashvili said that the latest Russian airstrikes inside Georgia
had taken place against targets between the already heavily shelled
city of Gori and the capital Tbilisi.
"Georgia will never surrender," he said. "Democracy is stronger
than any of their bombs, any of their tanks."
He said that Russia would not heed international calls for a
cease-fire and withdrawal to previous troop positions "when it's
just a call and nothing more." Georgians do "feel let down by world
democracies," Saakashvili said.
(Deutsche Welle)
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