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Bush challenges Russia with aid flights for Georgia
Russia ’sabotaging Georgian airfields’, US claims as Condoleeza Rice lands in Tbilisi
An American official has claimed that Russian troops are sabotaging airfields and other installations in Georgia this afternoon.
The confusion about the Russian’s planned pullout came as American military planes began delivering aid to the victims of violence in Georgia and as Washington sent a warning to Moscow that it would back the republic.
Today Russia said it was concerned by the ‘type’ of cargo the US is flying in.
The first aid flights into the capital, Tbilisi, came as the shaky ceasefire between Georgia and Russia continued to hold - despite highly provocative moves by Russian troops.
Meanwhile In Moscow, Russia’s foreign minister declared that the world “can forget about any talk about Georgia’s territorial integrity.” just as Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive in Georgia to bolster US commitment.
The Secretary of State was holding talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy today before heading to Tbilisi.
Her visit came six days into the conflict, which has shifted from artillery, tank and gun battles at the weekend to increasingly sharp diplomatic and political exchanges between Washington, Moscow and Tbilisi.
The planes carried cots, blankets and medicine for refugees - estimates say there are up to 100,000 - displaced by the fighting.
Georgia’s interior ministry said Russian troops had started pulling out of the key strategic city of Gori, just 35 miles from Tbilisi.
The city, just outside South Ossetia, controls the key road between eastern and western Georgia, and has been occupied by Russian tanks and troops since yesterday.
They are supported by irregular armed volunteers from Chechnya, who angered Georgians when they said: ”We’re here on holiday
Georgian police on the outskirts of Gori were halting civilian traffic this morning, and scores of light vehicles carrying Georgian soldiers were parked in the area. The soldiers said they were awaiting further orders.
The interior ministry said Russian troops had also left Poti, a Black Sea port city with an oil terminal that is key to the former Soviet republic’s fragile economic health. Russian warships had previously blockaded the port.
Thousands of Russian troops remain in control of South Ossetia after driving out the Georgian forces which tried to regain control of their former territory.
Despite Moscow pulling its forces out of Georgia, fears grew that Russia would be reluctant to cede control of the tiny pro-Russian province.
Mr Bush backed up his warning to Moscow by sending aircraft and naval ships to the Black Sea, which is currently controlled by Russian warships, raising fears of direct confrontation between US and Russian forces. The US navy’s mission was to deliver food and medical supplies to Georgian ports.
Mr Bush said: “We expect Russia to honour its commitment to let in all forms of humanitarian assistance.”
Jonathan Eyal, director of studies at defence and security think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, said the US was sending a “none too subtle” message to Moscow that it would defend Georgia’s borders.
The decision would be viewed “extremely badly” in Russia, he added.
Mr Bush, flanked by Ms Rice and defence secretary Robert Gates at the White House, yesterday demanded that Moscow end the crisis.
He said Russia must abide by the agreed ceasefire and withdraw the troops it sent into Georgia last Thursday. He said: “The United States of America stands with the democratically-elected government of Georgia.
“We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected.”
 Aid: Airport employees unload a US C-17 transport plane on the tarmac at Tbilisi airport last night |
Ms Rice claimed that Russian servicemen were failing to prevent looting by irregular militias in Gori.
Moscow denied violating the ceasefire and rejected claims that its troops and armour had advanced on Tbilisi or looted Gori.
Her claims were backed by Human Rights Watch, a US organisation, which said its staff in Georgia had witnessed looting of ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia.
In Moscow, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: “I said from the very beginning that if any such facts prove true, we will react in the most serious way. The peaceful population should be protected. We are investigating these reports and will not allow such actions.”
Russian president Dmitri Medvedev has urged France, which is mediating in the conflict, to encourage Tbilisi to sign a binding agreement not to attack its separatist regions.
Mr Lavrov raised the temperature when he said the US needed to choose between partnership with Moscow or the Georgian leadership, which he characterised as a “virtual project” of the Bush administration.
The fighting in the Caucasus, an important transit route for Caspian oil, has rattled the US, Nato and the European Union.
Russia says 1,600 civilians died when Georgia attacked South Ossetia, although the figure has not been independently verified. Moscow’s general staff says it lost 74 soldiers in the fighting, with 171 wounded and 19 missing.
Tbilisi puts deaths on its side at more than 175, with hundreds injured. That figure does not include casualties sustained in South Ossetia.
Moscow announced an emergency aid package for South Ossetia, with finance minister Alexei Kudrin pledging 10 billion roubles (£207 million) to rebuild the shattered region.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has accused Moscow of “blatant aggression” against Georgia and warned it risked being frozen out of the G8 group of leading industrialised nations.
A meeting of EU foreign leaders in Brussels yesterday ended in an expression of “grave concern” about the situation and agreement to do more on the ground - including the possible despatch of unarmed peace monitors.
But it failed to propose any action to punish Russia, although EU ministers accepted a call by Mr Miliband for a fresh look at negotiations on a proposed co-operation deal with Moscow.
The Foreign Secretary, who broke off from a holiday on Minorca to deal with the crisis, said: ‘It is absolutely essential that the message goes out loud and clear that Russian incursions into Georgia from South Ossetia or from Abkhazia are contrary to international law and contrary to the agreement that was brokered last night.’
Source: thisislondon
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