Русская версия"The ceasefire must be verifiable and durable," German government
sources said in Berlin on Saturday, Aug.
16, ahead of Chancellor
Angela Merkel's trip to Tbilisi to meet President Mikheil
Saakashvili on Sunday, DPA news agency reported.
They said Merkel would press for a complete cessation to all
hostilities during the visit which comes two days after
the chancellor met Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in the
Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Merkel is also reported to be pushing for the delivery of
humanitarian aid to the crisis region of South Ossetia.
Russia
signs ceasefire
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Russian soldiers in the Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia on
Friday
Medvedev meanwhile signed the six-point plan mediated by the
European Union earlier Saturday in Moscow. Saakashvili signed the
document in Tbilisi on Friday in the presence of US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice.
The agreement is not a peace settlement but provides the basis for
a legally binding text to end the fighting and pave the way for a
political solution. The United Nations Security Council is to
formalize the six principles of the ceasefire.
One of the key points is the withdrawal of Russian armed forces to
positions held before hostilities began in South Ossetia.
Other points include renouncing violence, cessation
of hostilities, granting access to humanitarian aid, the
return of Georgian armed forces to their usual quarters and the
opening of international discussions on the future status of
the rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The framework plan falls short of the original proposal by the EU
presidency. The draft had called for the "full respect for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia" and the
deployment of a EU or UN monitoring mission.
Differences remain
Despite the signing of the agreement by Georgia and
Russia, the two sides are still engaged in
a verbal war.
After meeting Merkel, Medvedev made plain that Russia would respond
"in the same way" if it felt provoked again, while Merkel said she
found the Russian response "in some aspects disproportionate."
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Saakashvili says the Russians want him out
Speaking in Washington, US President George W Bush accused Russia
of "bullying" behavior in sending armored units into Georgia and
bombing Georgian targets from the air.
In an interview with the German weekly
Der Spiegel
published Saturday, Saakashvili said Moscow was determined to see
his government toppled.
Russian leaders had told both Sarkozy and Rice that "there will be
no agreement on resolving the conflict without my resignation,"
Saakashvili said.
He accused Russia of using the Georgian military action in
breakaway South Ossetia as a pretext to march into the region.
"South Ossetia is not the issue for Russia," he said. "Moscow wants
to take over all of Georgia."
Ukraine
offers West cooperation
Officials at neighboring Ukraine's foreign ministry on Saturday
reportedly offered to open their missile defense network to
cooperation with European and other foreign powers.
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (left) and Merkel met in
July
Ukraine's foreign ministry said Kiev could invite European partners
to integrate their early warning systems against missile attacks.
Ukraine is also ready to deal with "foreign countries interested in
getting information about the situation in space," the ministry's
statement said, according to AFP news angency.
Ministry officials said that the demise of a bilateral
Russian-Ukrainian defense agreement earlier this year "allows
Ukraine to establish active cooperation with European countries."
Russia's parliament voted to withdraw from a bilateral missile
radar accord in January in response to Ukraine's application for
membership in the NATO military alliance.
Ukraine has backed Georgia in the current crisis.
The offer comes shortly after Poland agreed to host elements of a
US missile defense shield which Moscow describes as a threat to its
national security.
German-Georgians abducted?
The German foreign ministry on Saturday confirmed a news report
that two men with German passports might have been abducted in the
Georgian town of Gori, which is still occupied by Russian forces.
According to reports, hundreds of people were abducted by militia
into Georgia's breakaway province South Ossetia after most of the
fighting had ended earlier in the week.
(Deutsche Welle)
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