EU Ministers Urge Probe of Responsibility for Russia-Georgia Conflict
By VOA News
05 September 2008
Foreign ministers of leading European Union countries are calling for an international probe of which country was responsible for starting the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia.
The foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and Italy were among those backing the inquiry as they arrived in the southern French city of Avignon to review plans for sending a mission of EU observers to Georgia.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the mission is practically ready. He said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, is expected to discuss the issue during talks in Moscow Monday with Russian leaders.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Russia it is "deepening its isolation" by failing to abide by the conditions of a cease-fire agreement with Georgia.
The United States has repeatedly criticized Russia for maintaining forces in the security zone outside Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Moscow says its troops are carrying out necessary peacekeeping duties.
In Ukraine, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said Russia's actions cast grave doubts on its intentions and reliability as an international partner. Cheney is in Ukraine on the last stop of a regional tour aimed at showing support for U.S. allies. He reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine's bid to join NATO just one day after backing Georgia's membership bid in Tbilisi.
Russia Friday accused Cheney of fueling Georgian aggression.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Cheney's comments will only embolden Georgia's dangerous ambitions. He also criticized the U.S. for using military vessels to deliver humanitarian supplies to Georgia.
He spoke as the flagship of the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean fleet, the USS Mount Whitney, arrived in the Georgian port of Poti with supplies for the relief effort.
At the summit of the Collective Security Organization, top leaders of six former Soviet republics (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) backed Russia's role in pushing Georgian forces out of South Ossetia. But they stopped short of recognizing the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
