Russia: 'Forget' Georgian territorial integrity

[jayfish]

Source: Yahoo News

GORI, Georgia - Explosions were heard near Gori on Thursday as a Russian troop withdrawal from the strategic city seemed to collapse. A fragile cease-fire appeared even more shaky as Russia's foreign minister declared that the world "can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity."
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The declaration from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came simultaneously with the announcement that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was meeting in the Kremlin with the leaders of Georgia's two separatist provinces.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080814/ap_on_re_eu/georgia...

[Virginia Dare]

1. But but but Condi and shrub told them they MUST DO IT!...

[dipsydoodle]

2. That is solely

with respect to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On the subject of the explosions the article actually continues to say :

There were at least five explosions near Gori. It could not immediately be determined if the blasts were a renewal of fighting between Georgian and Russian forces, but they sounded similar to mortar shells and occurred after a tense confrontation between Russian and Georgian troops on the edge of the city.

In other words - that was what he was told : not necessarily something he witnessed.

[LynnTheDem]

3. The same way Georgia "forgot" South O's territorial integrity.

Oops, I forgotted; it's ok when a bUsh ally does it, and bad when a no-longer-a-bUsh-ally does it.

[14thColony]

4. That certainly appears to be the case.

Georgia has been trying to drive the South Ossetians out since 1991. They are hardly the good guys in this.

[maddezmom]

5. Russia hints at long stay in South Ossetia

TBILISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Russian troops appeared to be still in control of a key Georgian city Thursday as Moscow declined to give any timetable for the withdrawal of its forces from the disputed Georgian enclave of South Ossetia.


Russian troops stand guard Thursday at an entrance to the Georgian city Gori.

1 of 3 more photos » CNN's Michael Ware said Russian forces were still evident in the Georgian city of Gori Thursday despite an agreement to hand over control as part of an internationally mediated cease-fire deal to end days of territorial fighting.

Russian Gen. Nikolai Uvarov told CNN the handover of the city was "under way right now" and would be finished later Thursday.

He said Russia had invaded the city beyond the borders of South Ossetia because it is Georgia's main military base and an arms munition storage there had been left unattended.

Meanwhile Russia's deputy chief of general staff, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said a withdrawal plan to pull troops from the breakaway region had yet to be approved by Russia's defense ministry or its president, Dmitry Medvedev.

more:http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/14/georgia.russ...

[WriteDown]

6. Russia: Georgia can 'forget' breakaway provinces

Source: AP

GORI, Georgia (AP — Russian troops searched selected cities, forests and fields in Georgia on Thursday, looking for military equipment left behind by Georgian forces. In Moscow, Russia's foreign minister declared Georgia could "forget about" regaining its two separatist provinces.
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Late Thursday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said a column of more than 100 Russian tanks and other vehicles was moving toward Kutaisi, Georgia's second-largest city. The convoy set out from Senaki, another city in western Georgia, he said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Washington he saw no need to invoke American military force in the war between Russia and Georgia but warned that U.S.-Russian relations could suffer lasting damage if Moscow doesn't retreat.

"The United States spent 45 years working very hard to avoid a military confrontation with Russia," said Gates. "I see no reason to change that approach today."...

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080814/ap_on_re_eu/georgia...

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Soon Georgia can forget about Georgia too.

[Alexander]

7. 45 years? Like since JFK was assassinated?

"The United States spent 45 years working very hard to avoid a military confrontation with Russia," said Gates. "I see no reason to change that approach today."...

I thought the Cold War was 60 years old, not 45.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. 1945 - 1990 n/t

[endarkenment]

9. And besides, we've spent the last 7.75 years undoing that.

The Bush Cabal has been poking the bear in his lair for the last 7 years and 8 months, seeing just how far they could go before they got a reaction. They found the limits last thursday.

[WriteDown]

10. You seem to take a certain glee in all this...

I refuse to root for Putin in any way. I think Leftish Brit had an interesting post today detailing the European perspective.

[amandabeech]

14. The last time that the Russians and the U.S. engaged in direct confrontation was

the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

The Russians were trying to put nuclear missiles in Cuba. I was a little kid scared shitless.

You might want to Google it.

Of course, we nearly confronted the Russians at the Pristina airport back in the '90s.

[pampango]

11. Looks like they may break away from Georgia and join Russia.

""One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters as Russia's president met in the Kremlin with the two separatist leaders.

The comments and meeting were a clear sign that Moscow is considering absorbing South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian troops operated with confidence Thursday in and around Poti, the site of Georgia's key oil terminal. Georgia's coast guard said Russian troops burned four Georgian patrol boats in Poti on Wednesday, then returned Thursday to loot and destroy the coast guard's radar and other equipment.

Nogovitsyn (Russia's deputy chief of General Staff) would not comment on the Russian presence in Poti, saying only that Russian forces were operating within their "area of responsibility." He also shrugged off as "nonsense" Ukraine's order restricting Russia's navy from moving freely in Ukraine's Black Sea waters."

I wonder if Ukraine knows that trying to limit Russia's naval activity in its territorial waters is "nonsense".

[WriteDown]

12. Ukraine probably...

actually still believes that it is its own country. Silly isn't it?

[maddezmom]

13. Medvedev promises to guarantee any vote by rebel states to break with Tbilisi

Medvedev promises to guarantee any vote by rebel states to break with TbilisiIan Traynor, Europe editor The Guardian, Friday August 15 2008 Article historyThe Kremlin yesterday fuelled fears that it was bent on annexing Georgia's two contested provinces when President Dmitri Medvedev met the leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and pledged to support and guarantee any decision they took on their status.

Eduard Kokoity, the pro-Russian leader of South Ossetia, on Georgia's northern border with Russia, and Sergei Bagapsh, the leader of the separatist western region of Abkhazia, were called to the Kremlin to sign up to the truce terms between Russia and Georgia mediated on Tuesday by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Medvedev delivered a robust statement of support for the two rebel regions, while Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, flatly dismissed western insistence that Georgia's territorial integrity had to form the basis for any eventual settlement of the conflict.

"We don't want the collapse of Georgia, but the de facto situation is such that neither the South Ossetians nor the Abkhaz want to live in the same state with the person who has sent his troops against them," said Lavrov.

more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/15/russia.geor...