Lavrov to Washington: Either Russia or Georgia
Source: Alalam.ir, 14-8-2008
MOSCOW--Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned Washington it will have to choose between its partnership with the Kremlin or supporting Georgia.
Lavrov said in televised comments: "The Georgian leadership is a special project for the United States."
"At some time it will be necessary to choose between the prestige of this relatively virtual project and partnership on questions that require collective action," he added.
Lavrov was responding to a strongly-worded speech on Wednesday by US President George W. Bush in which he demanded Russian troops leave Georgia and announced he was dispatching Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Georgia.
The Russian foreign minister's warning comes as the fragile truce between Georgia and Russia faced a new test Thursday as Moscow pledged to pull its troops out of a key Georgian town amid the continuing war of words.
On Wednesday, a day after agreeing to the French-plan that ended five days of bitter fighting, Moscow and Tbilisi exchanged accusations of breaching the truce.
Russian-armored vehicles patrolled Gori, a key town linking the east and the west of the country that is close to South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian region at the center of the conflict.
Hundreds of South Ossetian separatists with some Russian army personnel went house-to-house in villages near Gori.
A senior Georgian official, citing the Russian military, said Russian troops will pull out of Gori on Thursday and the Georgian police force is set to resume patrolling the town.
A senior Russian military official, General Vyacheslav Borissov, confirmed that the troops would pull out.
"Beginning (Thursday) the city's police will resume their work," he was quoted by Interfax as saying.
Russian troops and armor rolled into Georgia's South Ossetia region Friday in response to a Georgian bid to regain control of the renegade province which broke from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
Russian troops then pushed on into other parts of Georgia while aircraft bombed targets across the country.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday halted Moscow's offensive and French President Nicolas Sarkozy later negotiated a ceasefire with Medvedev and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
However, Russia on Wednesday said that while it would talk with the European Union about the truce agreement, it refuses to deal directly with the Georgian president.
Russia has accused Georgia of violating the truce by failing to pursue an "active withdrawal" from South Ossetia, where Moscow says 2,000 civilians were killed in the fighting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Russia would only withdraw from Georgia after Georgian troops had returned to their barracks.
Russia claims the conflict has left more than 2,000 civilians dead, while the United Nations estimates some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes.
The Georgian health minister put the death toll in Georgia at 175 people, mainly civilians. Russia said 74 of its troops had been killed.
MOSCOW--Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned Washington it will have to choose between its partnership with the Kremlin or supporting Georgia.
Lavrov said in televised comments: "The Georgian leadership is a special project for the United States."
"At some time it will be necessary to choose between the prestige of this relatively virtual project and partnership on questions that require collective action," he added.
Lavrov was responding to a strongly-worded speech on Wednesday by US President George W. Bush in which he demanded Russian troops leave Georgia and announced he was dispatching Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Georgia.
The Russian foreign minister's warning comes as the fragile truce between Georgia and Russia faced a new test Thursday as Moscow pledged to pull its troops out of a key Georgian town amid the continuing war of words.
On Wednesday, a day after agreeing to the French-plan that ended five days of bitter fighting, Moscow and Tbilisi exchanged accusations of breaching the truce.
Russian-armored vehicles patrolled Gori, a key town linking the east and the west of the country that is close to South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian region at the center of the conflict.
Hundreds of South Ossetian separatists with some Russian army personnel went house-to-house in villages near Gori.
A senior Georgian official, citing the Russian military, said Russian troops will pull out of Gori on Thursday and the Georgian police force is set to resume patrolling the town.
A senior Russian military official, General Vyacheslav Borissov, confirmed that the troops would pull out.
"Beginning (Thursday) the city's police will resume their work," he was quoted by Interfax as saying.
Russian troops and armor rolled into Georgia's South Ossetia region Friday in response to a Georgian bid to regain control of the renegade province which broke from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
Russian troops then pushed on into other parts of Georgia while aircraft bombed targets across the country.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday halted Moscow's offensive and French President Nicolas Sarkozy later negotiated a ceasefire with Medvedev and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
However, Russia on Wednesday said that while it would talk with the European Union about the truce agreement, it refuses to deal directly with the Georgian president.
Russia has accused Georgia of violating the truce by failing to pursue an "active withdrawal" from South Ossetia, where Moscow says 2,000 civilians were killed in the fighting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Russia would only withdraw from Georgia after Georgian troops had returned to their barracks.
Russia claims the conflict has left more than 2,000 civilians dead, while the United Nations estimates some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes.
The Georgian health minister put the death toll in Georgia at 175 people, mainly civilians. Russia said 74 of its troops had been killed.
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