Русская версияRussia said it could not consider a ceasefire deal with
Georgia at present.
"According to information from peacekeepers in South Ossetia,
Georia continues to use military force and in this regard we cannot
consider this document," a Kremlin spokesman told reporters on
Monday, Aug.
11.
The rebuff came less than an hour after Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili signed a European Union-backed peace
proposal, be presented to Russia, according to the
news agency AFP.
The EU's put forth a peace proposal in an attempt
to end the conflict with Russia, French Foreign Minister
Bernard Kouchner told French radio RTL from Tbilisi.
Kouchner, whose nation hold the rotating EU presidency, said that
the peace plan is "rather simple," and includes an immediate and
unconditional ceasefire and access for victims to aid.
Kouchner and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, head of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), will
travel to Moscow for talks later on Monday. EU foreign ministers
will convene for an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to discuss
the crisis, the French EU presidency confirmed.
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Gernot Erler
German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler on Monday meanwhile
called on Russia to end fighting as there was no justification for
further attacks after Georgia declared a ceasefire on Sunday.
Russian officials, however, say that Georgia is not observing the
ceasefire.
"We don't know whether it is being adhered to 100 percent, but it
is time to say that there is no longer any justification for
further military attacks," Erler told German public radio, adding
that the conflict so far had demonstrated the "clear military
superiority of Russian forces."
The European Commission backed up those remarks Monday morning,
calling on Russia to halt immediately "all military activity
on Georgian territory."
French FM: US part of conflict
Kouchner meanwhile said that the EU would have to be the chief
negotiator in the conflict since the US "in a sense was part of the
conflict."
The White House on Monday, Aug. 11, said that "Russian
aggression" in the Caucasus region "must not go unanswered," said a
spokeswoman.
US Vice President Dick Cheney "praised (Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili for his government's restraint, offers of cease-fire,
and disengagement of Georgian forces from the zone of conflict in
the South Ossetian region," said Cheney's spokeswoman Lee Anne
McBride.
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The US has sided with Georgia
If it continues, the conflict could have serious implication for
Russia's relations with the US and with the broader international
community, the vice president reportedly said.
From the Olympic Games in Beijing on Monday, US President George W.
Bush said in an interview with NBC Sports that he had he had been
"very firm" with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin regarding
the South Ossetian conflict.
He called Russia's response to Georgia "disproportionate" and urged
that all troops return to the "status quo ante" from Aug. 6.
Reports of Russian attacks
The Georgian Interior Ministry said early Monday that Russian
planes had bombed a military base and radar installation in the
suburbs of its capital city Tbilisi.
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South Ossetian residents fled their homes over the weekend as
Georgia launched attacks
"There were two bombings, one at the Kojori military base and
another on Mt. Makhata," Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota
Utiashvili told Reuters news agency. "As far as I know, there are
no casualties."
On Sunday, the Georgian Interior Ministry claimed that Russia tanks
had crossed the border from South Ossetia into Georgia proper, but
were turned back by Georgian forces.
Russia on Sunday claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that was
reportedly attempting to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea
off the coast of Georgia.
After nearly four days of fighting between Georgian and Russian
troops, Russian troops were in control of the South Ossetian
capital Tskhinvali Sunday, when the Georgian government announced a
unilateral ceasefire.
But even as the withdrawal of Georgian forces from Tskhinvali was
confirmed by the Russian military, there were reports of continued
fighting including an attack by Russian jets on Tbilisi's airport.
Moscow, however, denied the report.
Casualty numbers climbing
Russian attacks have come in response to a Georgian offensive
launched overnight Friday to gain control of the breakaway South
Ossetian province.
The pro-Russian territory broke away from Georgia in 1992, shortly
after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and most of its
residents have been granted Russian passports.
Russian Deputy Foreign Ministry Grigory Karasin said more than
2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since the fighting
began Friday, reported AP, but the number has not been confirmed.
Abkhazia orders Georgians out
Georgia's second separatist region Abkhazia meanwhile ordered all
Georgian soldiers and civilians to leave the upper Kodori Valley
area or face an attack. Georgian positions in the upper valley
bordering Russia were surrounded by Abkhazian forces, the
leadership of the Russian-backed breakaway republic on the Black
Sea said in the regional capital Suchumi, according to the Russian
Interfax agency.
Indicating a possible further escalation of the conflict with
Georgia, Moscow has moved 9,000 soldiers and 350 military vehicles
into Abkhazia in the past few days. The move was intended to
support Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia, Moscow said.
The UN observer mission UNOMIG withdrew its military observers
stationed in the area over the weekend.
While Abkhazia considers the sparsely populated Kodori Valley part
of its territory, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in 2006
set up a Georgian authority in the upper Kodori Valley after a
Georgian police action there.
(Deutsche Welle)
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