Georgia will lose South Ossetia, Russian president declares
Dmitry Medvedev says war means South Ossetia and Abkhazia are 'unlikely to remain with Georgia in one state'
James Meikle and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Friday August 15 2008 14:54 BST
Article history
Russia said today that South Ossetia and Abkhazia were unlikely to want to remain part of the Georgia as the war of words between Washington and Moscow grew more heated.
The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, said he respected the principle of territorial integrity but "after what happened, it's unlikely Ossetians and Abkhazians will ever be able to live together with Georgia in one state".
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev.
Photograph: Mikhail
Metzel/AP
In Washington, George Bush demanded Moscow honour a commitment to get out of Georgia, declaring the country had chosen democracy and "we won't cast them aside". He said Georgia's integrity and sovereignty must be respected and that a contentious relationship with the US was not in Moscow's best interests. "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," Bush said.
The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, today arrived in Tbilisi to bolster Georgia after it was routed by Russia.
Medvedev, speaking in the Black Sea resort of Sochi where he had talks with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said: "If someone continues to attack our citizens , our peacekeepers, we will of course respond in just the same way we have responded. There should be no doubt about this."
Moscow appeared to raise the temperature further by saying Poland's agreement to host a US missile defence system exposed it to attack. Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the Russian general staff, was quoted by the news agency Interfax as saying: "Poland, by deploying (the system), is exposing itself to a strike – 100%."
Earlier, he had reiterated Russia's warning that placing missile defence structures in Poland and the Czech Republic would bring an unspecified military response.
Poland agreed last night to station interceptor rockets at missile silos as part of a US missile defence shield in the Baltic region.
The US says the shield is aimed at Iran, but Russia's Nato ambassador, Dmitry Rogozin, told Reuters news agency that "the fact that this was signed in a period of very difficult crisis in the relations between Russia and the United States over the situation in Georgia shows that of course the missile defence system will be deployed not against Iran but the strategic potential of Russia".
Merkel said some of Russia's actions against Georgia over South Ossetia had been "disproportionate" and Russian troops should withdraw from central areas in Georgia. Washington has warned that the fighting could set back Moscow's relations with the west for years, but has ruled out engaging militarily in the region.
Rice's visit came after the US sent military transport planes with humanitarian and medical supplies to Georgia, coupled with a warning from Bush to Russia not to obstruct the aid effort.
Despite a draft French-brokered ceasefire requiring Russian and Georgian forces to return to pre-conflict positions, Moscow's forces today remained deep in Georgian territory well outside the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Georgia has not formally signed the ceasefire agreement, which allows Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia. Russian troops were today still blocking the entrance to Gori, which sits on Georgia's main east-west road, although they allowed in some humanitarian supplies.
Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, warned that "Russia's invasion of Georgia strikes at the heart of western values". In an article for the Washington Post, reprinted in today's Guardian, he said: "If the international community allows Russia to crush our democratic independent state, it will be giving carte blanche to authoritarian governments everywhere."
Russia has dismissed western insistence that Georgia's territorial integrity forms the basis of any settlement of the conflict. The Kremlin's stance has fuelled fears that it is determined to annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Human Rights Watch said today it had collected evidence of Russian warplanes using cluster bombs against civilians in Georgia. Military aircraft killed at least 11 civilians and injured dozens of others in Gori and the village of Ruisi on Tuesday, the group said. This was denied by the Russian general staff.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/15/georgia.russia1