US, EU Allies Behind Georgia War
Source: 09-09-2008
MADRID--Georgia launched an offensive last month to regain control of a separatist region after receiving advice from the United States and some European countries, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Tuesday.
During an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais in which he was asked if Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili acted alone in deciding to launch the military operation in South Ossetia, Gorbachev replied: "Of course not."
When asked who advised the Georgian President, Gorbachev said: "If you do not know, I will have to tell you: The United States. But also a number of European Union member states."
Gorbachev also said earlier that calls from the US and other Western powers to bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO are purely aimed at isolating Russia.
In their drive to bring the post-Soviet countries into the alliance, Western powers are trying to "lock Russia in," Gorbachev said.
He also said that in the US there are "certain circles who are pushing the country toward confrontation and NATO expansion, to earn large amounts of money from the production of new armaments," and that the world now faces the threat of a "return to geopolitical games."
He voiced concern that Western nations saw the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia as "aggression on the part of Russia."
Russia "does not want to command" the world, but is "fulfilling its international obligations, while avoiding illegal games," Gorbachev said.
Last month, Gorbachev accused Saakashvili of "recklessness" which prompted Russia's decision to invade its neighbor and said the Georgian leader "would not have dared to attack without outside support."
Russian troops surged into Georgia on August 8 to rebuff the Georgian offensive to regain control of South Ossetia from Moscow-backed separatists.
On Monday, President Dmitry Medvedev announced a new timetable for Russia's withdrawal from Georgia after meeting a visiting European Union delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
MADRID--Georgia launched an offensive last month to regain control of a separatist region after receiving advice from the United States and some European countries, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Tuesday.
During an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais in which he was asked if Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili acted alone in deciding to launch the military operation in South Ossetia, Gorbachev replied: "Of course not."
When asked who advised the Georgian President, Gorbachev said: "If you do not know, I will have to tell you: The United States. But also a number of European Union member states."
Gorbachev also said earlier that calls from the US and other Western powers to bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO are purely aimed at isolating Russia.
In their drive to bring the post-Soviet countries into the alliance, Western powers are trying to "lock Russia in," Gorbachev said.
He also said that in the US there are "certain circles who are pushing the country toward confrontation and NATO expansion, to earn large amounts of money from the production of new armaments," and that the world now faces the threat of a "return to geopolitical games."
He voiced concern that Western nations saw the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia as "aggression on the part of Russia."
Russia "does not want to command" the world, but is "fulfilling its international obligations, while avoiding illegal games," Gorbachev said.
Last month, Gorbachev accused Saakashvili of "recklessness" which prompted Russia's decision to invade its neighbor and said the Georgian leader "would not have dared to attack without outside support."
Russian troops surged into Georgia on August 8 to rebuff the Georgian offensive to regain control of South Ossetia from Moscow-backed separatists.
On Monday, President Dmitry Medvedev announced a new timetable for Russia's withdrawal from Georgia after meeting a visiting European Union delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
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