TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

U.S. Slams Russian Recognition Of Breakaway Areas

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 26, 2008

Updated: 08/26/2008 01:51 pm

WASHINGTON - The United States said Russia is behaving "appallingly" by granting formal diplomatic recognition Tuesday to two breakaway Georgian provinces at the center of this month's conflict.

Meanwhile, the United States dispatched a military ship bearing aid to a Georgian port city still patrolled by Russian troops.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia has no business declaring the provinces independent of U.S.-backed Georgia while the United Nations Security Council on which Russia sits has declared that the regions are part of Georgia.

"I think it is regrettable," Rice said when asked at a news conference in Ramallah, West Bank about Russia's announcement. "It puts Russia of course in opposition to a number of Security Council resolutions to which it is party, most appallingly as a member of the P-5." She was using the shorthand for the permanent five members of the powerful Security Council: the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. All have veto power.

Rice said the U.S. regards Abkhazia and South Ossetia as "part of the internationally recognized borders of Georgia" and will use its veto power in the Security Council to block any Russian attempt to change their status.

"This simply will be dead on arrival," Rice said as she finished a two-day Mideast peace mission.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the United States is looking at a variety of options to respond.

"We're not trying to escalate anything," Wood said when asked whether disagreement between the West and Russia would jeopardize international cooperation. But, he added, "We obviously can't allow what Russia's done to go without there being some consequences."

He would not provide details about possible punishment the U.S. is considering.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Georgia forced Russia's hand by trying to reassert control by force in the smaller of the two regions, South Ossetia, on Aug. 7. The self-governing regions seek independence from Georgia and eventual annexation to Russia. Russia has given Russian passports to many non-Georgians living in the provinces.

Russian tanks and troops drove deep into undisputed Georgian territory in a five-day war that Moscow saw as a justified response to a military threat in its backyard and the West viewed as a repeat of Soviet-style intervention.

The United States has said Russia is not fully complying with a cease-fire signed more than a week ago. Rice noted that the cease-fire calls for international input to settle the future of the two breakaway regions.

"To pre-empt both international discussions is extremely unfortunate," Rice said. "It simply means that the Russian president continues not to honor the commitments that the Russians have signed on to."

Russian forces have staked out positions beyond the de-facto borders of the separatist regions, which the U.S. and other Western nations call a cease-fire violation.

"While there have been some significant Russian movements, they are not yet living up to the terms of the cease-fire agreement," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday.

He said there still is a "sizable Russian presence in Georgia," though he declined to discuss the specific locations of the remaining troops.

Russian forces have established some "self-declared security zones" as well as checkpoints, security posts and so on, Whitman said.

Two checkpoints are near the edge of Poti, one of Georgia's most important Black Sea ports — one by a bridge that provides the only access to Poti. The Russian military is also claiming the right to patrol in the city.

Angering Russia, the United States sent the missile destroyer USS McFaul to the southern Georgian port of Batumi, well away from the conflict zone, to deliver 34 tons of humanitarian aid on Sunday. The McFaul left Batumi on Tuesday but would remain in the Black Sea area, said Commander Scott Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas, meanwhile, was headed for Georgia with a shipment of aid. It may try to enter Poti.

While Western nations have called the Russian military presence in Poti a clear violation of an EU-brokered cease-fire, a top Russian general countered Tuesday that using warships to deliver aid was "devilish."

"The heightened activity of NATO ships in the Black Sea perplexes us," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said in Moscow. Suspicion persists in Russia that the ships are clandestinely delivering military materiel.

The U.S. has been informing Russia along the way as it has sent military planes and ships to the area. Whitman said the U.S. has made clear its "purpose and intent" and that Washington was "not anticipating any problems."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT