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Rice Presses for Pullout as Georgia Signs Cease-Fire
 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia met in Tbilisi on Friday. |
With Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice standing by, the Georgian president signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia on Friday. Ms. Rice then declared that all Russian troops must leave Georgian territory immediately.
Ms. Rice, who was in Tbilisi to show support for President Mikheil Saakashvili, said that “with this signature” there had to be “the immediate and orderly withdrawal of Russian armed forces and the return of those forces to Russia.”
At the same time, a column of at least a dozen armored vehicles moved south from Gori, the central Georgian city, to the village of Igoeti, and took up a position there, about 15 miles from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. This company-sized unit of armored personnel carriers, commanded by a Russian captain, has come closer to the capital than any other so far.
Russia put its signature to the accord earlier this week, but the agreement included a point that allowed Russian troops to act in what was termed a peacekeeping role, even outside the boundaries of the separatist enclaves where the war began.
It soon became clear that Russian forces had turned this provision to their advantage as Russian troops, pushed further into Georgia and seized full control of the central city of Gori in recent days.
Ms. Rice addressed these concerns, and called for the speedy deployment of an international peacekeeping force for the two separatist enclaves, which would make any further Russian presence unnecessary. She said Russian and Georgian troops must now pull back to the positions they occupied before hostilities began over a week ago. Only Russian troops performing a true peacekeeping role should remain in the two enclaves, she said.
Standing beside Mr. Saakashvili in Tbilisi, Ms. Rice said: “This must take place and take place now.”
Tensions between Washington and Moscow have risen sharply in the past 24 hours, as Russia’s president and foreign minister made it clear that they would support separatist efforts by two breakaway Georgian territories and as the specter of a resurgent Russia helped persuade Poland to agree to a long-stalled deal on an American missile defense system.
In a news conference in Tbilisi that was dominated by Mr. Saakashvili, who bitterly criticized Russia, Ms. Rice warned of “consequences” for Russia over its military offensive in Georgia. Earlier, in Washington, President Bush condemned as unacceptable what he called Russia’s “bullying and intimidation.” He also said Friday that Russia must withdraw its troops from all of Georgian territory and said the United States would stand with Georgia in the conflict.
“Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” he said.
However, neither Ms. Rice’s remarks nor those by Mr. Bush contained any hint of any further American response should Russia fail to pull back its troops.
As Ms. Rice and Mr. Bush spoke, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany met with the Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi. Ms. Merkel said Russia had taken military action in Georgia that was “not proportionate.”
At a joint news conference with Mr. Medvedev, Ms. Merkel urged Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia, though she added that “both sides are probably to blame” for the conflict. She left open the possibility that Georgia could still join NATO, though analysts have suggested that the likelihood of the country’s accession is now very slim.
For his part, Mr. Medvedev continued to press the Kremlin’s position that there was no way that Georgia could ever again claim sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
“Peace needs to be restored and guaranteed in the region, so that no one gets any more idiotic ideas into their heads,” he said. “This is Russia’s main goal today.”
Praising the small nation as a “courageous democracy” that has provided troops to support the American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Bush said, “The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world, and we will not cast them aside.”
In some of his strongest language yet on the war that flared up a week ago, Mr. Bush said in a brief statement at the White House, “Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory.”
Mr. Bush said that the cold war was over and that Russia had damaged its credibility and standing in the international order. Russia now has to “put itself back on the path of responsible nations,” Mr. Bush said.
On Friday
Russia’s military offensive into Georgia has forced the start of a wholesale reassessment of American dealings with Russia, according to senior Bush administration officials, and jeopardized talks on everything from halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions to reducing strategic arsenals to cooperation on missile defenses. more
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