Clinton Pledges 'Steadfast' US Support for Georgia
VOA News 05 July 2010
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States remains "steadfast" in its commitment to Georgia in disputes with Russia over two breakaway regions.
Clinton spoke Monday in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, alongside President Mikheil Saakashvili. She said the United States does not accept Moscow's claim that it has special interests in the largely Russian-speaking regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia recognized the independence of the Georgian territories after a brief 2008 war, but they are still internationally recognized as part of Georgia.
Clinton said the United States remains opposed to permanent Russian military bases under construction in Georgian territory. Clinton said she and President Barack Obama voiced their opposition to Russia's presence in the region to President Dmitri Medvedev during the Russian leader's visit to Washington last month.
Clinton's comments cap a five-day trip through central Europe and the Caucasus, aimed at reassuring Washington's allies of continued U.S. support. Clinton has visited Ukraine, Poland, Azerbaijan and Armenia. She says the improving ties the Obama administration is forging with Russia will benefit the former Soviet republics and allies she has visited.
Speaking Sunday in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, she said the U.S. differences with Russia over Georgia need not impede U.S.-Russian cooperation in other areas. In Yerevan, Clinton also renewed the U.S. call for a pact ending Armenia's long-standing dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh - an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan. She called such a settlement a high priority for Washington.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under Armenian control since a cease-fire in the 1990s ended a war that killed 35,000 people. Occasional fighting still flares despite the cease-fire, while recent talks monitored by regional power Turkey have stalled.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
