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EU - RUSSIA - GEORGIA: Medvedev accepts ceasefire plan, but it’s not yet peace
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed a six-point plan of principles proposed by visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy to try to end the latest confrontation between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.
In a joint display of diplomatic goodwill, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Moscow’s acceptance of a ceasefire proposal in the confrontation over South Ossetia Tuesday. But, they reiterated, the agreement was not a final peace deal.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Moscow, Medvedev and Sarkozy detailed six principles of a ceasefire proposal, including a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Russian and Georgian troops to the positions they held prior to the start of the latest hostilities on Friday.
“I think these are good principles to settle the problem, to end this dramatic situation,” said Medvedev. “These principles can be used both by Georgia and South Ossetia.”
The ball, according to Medvedev is now in Georgia’s court. “It is up to Georgia now,” he said.
Sarkozy is scheduled to visit the Georgian capital of Tbilisi later Tuesday to present the plan and to urge Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to sign on to the deal.
The agreement followed a frantic diplomatic shuffle by the French president and his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, along with a team of European diplomats, to help stem the deadly crisis in the region. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
Hours earlier, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, appeared to dash hopes of a ceasefire, saying that Russia wanted a complete withdrawal of Georgian troops from South Ossetia and surrounding areas.
And Georgian authorities continue to report military operations on their territory. According to Georgia’s National Security Council, Russia’s air force attacked a key oil pipeline running through Georgia on Tuesday - an accusation that has not yet been confirmed. Earlier, Russian warplanes bombed the town of Gori on Tuesday, killing at least five people, a Reuters correspondent reported.
FRANCE 24’s Cyril Vanier, at the Kremlin in Moscow, warned that the conflict may not be over yet. “We’ll have to see in the coming hours and days whether Medvedev’s assertion that the military operation is over is borne out by the facts on the ground,” he said.
Bush: Unacceptable actions
Early on Tuesday, the US president, George W. Bush, strongly condemned Russia’s “unacceptable” actions and urged Russia to accept the EU-backed peace draft. “Russia must accept this peace agreement as a first step towards resolving the conflict,” he said from the White House, adding that Russia’s latest moves raised “serious questions about its intentions in Georgia and the region.”
Meanwhile, leaders from Poland, Ukraine and the three Baltic countries are set to visit Tbilisi to support Saakashvili, according to the Lithuanian president’s office. On Saturday, the former communist Baltic states and Poland issued a joint statement which called on the European Union and NATO to oppose Russia’s “imperialist” policy towards Georgia.
Fighting continues inside and outside separatist provinces
Fighting appeared to be continuing Tuesday morning in the two separatist provinces and there were reports of activity by Russian forces inside other parts of Georgia. In South Ossetia, Georgian forces continued to shell the separatist capital Tskhinvali overnight, though the shelling was lighter than in past nights, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
In the Georgian city of Gori, just south of South Ossetia, Georgian troops and residents fled Monday when word came that Russian troops were advancing on the city. According to FRANCE 24 correspondents Tim Grucza and Nicolas Ransom, the troops retreated toward Tbilisi.
And in Abkhazia, a larger province than South Ossetia which broke away from Georgia during a 1992-93 war, Russian-backed separatists on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on a sliver of the region still held by Tbilisi, Interfax, the Russian press agency, reported. On Monday, Russian forces moved briefly into the western city of Senaki, destroying a military base, Russian and Georgian officials said.
Source: France24
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