Russia Starts Pulling Out of Georgia
Source: Alalam.ir, 19-8-2008
PARIS--Russia has begun pulling its troops out of Georgia but a complete withdrawal would depend on the actions of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Moscow's NATO envoy insisted on Tuesday.
In a radio interview in which he compared Saakashvili to Hitler, Dmitry Rogozin said the withdrawal of Russian forces has already started.
"Of course we will have to wait a few days to carry out this six-point (peace) plan", he said.
"The complete withdrawal depends on the policy of Saakashvili and the action of his forces," Rogozin told France Inter radio ahead of a special meeting of NATO foreign ministers later Tuesday.
Georgia claims that Russia has failed to keep its promise to start the withdrawal, while US officials also claim there are signs Russia is adding troops and equipment to its forces in the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Rogozin denied a US claim that Russia had moved short-range SS-21 missile launchers into South Ossetia since fighting there halted last week.
He also said Russian peacekeepers would remain in South Ossetia, where Russia launched a counter-attack on August 8 in response to a Georgian assault on Moscow-backed separatists in the region.
"They have the international mandate, they are there legitimately. They must remain there to keep peace," he told France Inter by telephone from Brussels.
Rogozin said the conflict showed it would now be impossible to let Georgia join NATO.
"How can one discuss the possibility of integrating Georgia into the framework of NATO after that, the massacre organized by Saakashvili? That's the same thing as integrating Saddam Hussein or (Adolf) Hitler into NATO," he said.
He said Saakashvili "no longer existed" as a partner for Moscow, adding that the pro-Western Georgian president wanted to provoke conflict between NATO and Russia.
Washington, said Rogozin, wanted "to have its puppet in the Caucasus" but "now that puppet is destroyed."
"There are a lot of American instructors among the Georgian soldiers who attacked Tskhinvali (the capital of South Ossetia)," said the Russian envoy.
"I know there are a lot of Americans among the people who manipulated Saakashvili, there are a lot of questions for the Americans."
At the frontline, Russian and Georgian forces exchanged prisoners Tuesday on a road between the capital Tbilisi and the flashpoint city of Gori.
According to the reports, 13 Georgians were exchanged for five Russians at a checkpoint 30 km (19 miles) from Tbilisi.
The Georgians, two of them wounded, had earlier emerged from Russian helicopters that landed near the site.
Georgian security council head Alexander Lomaia said that it was an exchange of prisoners from the recent short war.
PARIS--Russia has begun pulling its troops out of Georgia but a complete withdrawal would depend on the actions of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Moscow's NATO envoy insisted on Tuesday.
In a radio interview in which he compared Saakashvili to Hitler, Dmitry Rogozin said the withdrawal of Russian forces has already started.
"Of course we will have to wait a few days to carry out this six-point (peace) plan", he said.
"The complete withdrawal depends on the policy of Saakashvili and the action of his forces," Rogozin told France Inter radio ahead of a special meeting of NATO foreign ministers later Tuesday.
Georgia claims that Russia has failed to keep its promise to start the withdrawal, while US officials also claim there are signs Russia is adding troops and equipment to its forces in the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Rogozin denied a US claim that Russia had moved short-range SS-21 missile launchers into South Ossetia since fighting there halted last week.
He also said Russian peacekeepers would remain in South Ossetia, where Russia launched a counter-attack on August 8 in response to a Georgian assault on Moscow-backed separatists in the region.
"They have the international mandate, they are there legitimately. They must remain there to keep peace," he told France Inter by telephone from Brussels.
Rogozin said the conflict showed it would now be impossible to let Georgia join NATO.
"How can one discuss the possibility of integrating Georgia into the framework of NATO after that, the massacre organized by Saakashvili? That's the same thing as integrating Saddam Hussein or (Adolf) Hitler into NATO," he said.
He said Saakashvili "no longer existed" as a partner for Moscow, adding that the pro-Western Georgian president wanted to provoke conflict between NATO and Russia.
Washington, said Rogozin, wanted "to have its puppet in the Caucasus" but "now that puppet is destroyed."
"There are a lot of American instructors among the Georgian soldiers who attacked Tskhinvali (the capital of South Ossetia)," said the Russian envoy.
"I know there are a lot of Americans among the people who manipulated Saakashvili, there are a lot of questions for the Americans."
At the frontline, Russian and Georgian forces exchanged prisoners Tuesday on a road between the capital Tbilisi and the flashpoint city of Gori.
According to the reports, 13 Georgians were exchanged for five Russians at a checkpoint 30 km (19 miles) from Tbilisi.
The Georgians, two of them wounded, had earlier emerged from Russian helicopters that landed near the site.
Georgian security council head Alexander Lomaia said that it was an exchange of prisoners from the recent short war.
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