Русская версияMedvedev called for a halt to his country's military advancement in
Georgia, according to Interfax, Tass and other news agencies.
The
safety of Russian peacekeeping forces had been guaranteed and the
Georgian "aggressor" had been punished, Medvedev reportedly said
after meeting with Russian military leadership.
French and current EU President Nicholas Sarkozy arrived Moscow
Tuesday morning in a bid to resolve the ongoing Ruso-Georgian
conflict.
After an otherwise quiet night, Abkhaz forces apparently began an
offensive against Georgian troops on Tuesday, Aug. 12, in an
attempt to drive the latter out of Upper Kodori Gorge, a piece of
the breakaway region still controlled by Tbilisi.
The foreign minister of the Abkhaz separatist government, Sergei
Shamba, told Russian television that a UN observer mission in the
area had been warned of the operation and pulled out before
fighting began.
France's president, whose country currently holds the rotating EU
presidency, meanwhile was due to arrive in Moscow in the early
morning for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry
Medvedev. He was then scheduled to continue on to Georgia to meet
President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Russia
rejects French peace plan
Late on Monday, Russia's ambassador to the UN had rejected a
proposed Western draft resolution in the Security Council that
would call for an immediate truce between Russia and Georgia and
for the mutual withdrawal of their forces from the conflict zone.
"I cannot see us accepting this French draft," Vitaly Churkin told
reporters, referring to a French-drafted text agreed by Western
ambassadors.
The text is based on a three-point French peace plan calling for an
immediate truce, respect for Georgia's territorial integrity and a
return to the status quo.
In light of the need for action, both the 26-member North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and the 27-member EU are now under intense
pressure to come up with a reaction that goes beyond diplomatic
rhetoric, which has thus far been unable to quell the recent
outbreak of hostilities in Georgia.
Saakashvili: biggest action in Abkhazia
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Saakashvili said Moscow is attempting to take over Georgia
European diplomats met Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili in
Tbilisi on Monday and convinced him to sign a draft ceasefire
agreement.
Saakashvili called on the West to provide more than words of
support and emergency aid to Georgia.
"So far we have got from them moral support and humanitarian aid,
but we need more than that to stop this barbaric aggression," he
said in a televised address Monday. "The majority of Georgia's
territory is occupied."
Saakashvili remained defiant late Monday in the face of Russian
attacks into Georgia and accused Moscow of committing "ethnic
cleansing" in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.
In an interview by telephone with US broadcaster CNN, Saakashvili
said that the "biggest action" was currently in Abkhazia, where he
alleged that ethnic Georgians were being forced out by Russian
forces.
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"I directly accuse Russia of ethnic cleansing," he said.
Saakashvili said that the latest Russian airstrikes inside Georgia
had taken place against targets between the already heavily shelled
city of Gori and the capital Tbilisi.
"Georgia will never surrender," he said. "Democracy is stronger
than any of their bombs, any of their tanks."
He said that Russia would not heed international calls for a
ceasefire and withdrawal to previous troop positions "when it's
just a call and nothing more." Georgians do "feel let down by world
democracies," Saakashvili said.
Bush: Russian actions unacceptable
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Bush says the conflict has harmed Russia
Immediately after his return from the Beijing Olympics, US
President George W. Bush meanwhile warned of a "dramatic and brutal
escalation" in Georgia and accused Russia of trying to oust the
democratically elected Georgian government.
"It now appears that an effort may be underway to depose
(Georgia's) duly elected government," Bush said at the White House,
adding that there was evidence that Russia would soon bomb the
civilian airport in the capital Tbilisi and was targeting other
Georgian sites outside the initial combat zone in the breakaway
Georgian region of South Ossetia.
"If these reports are accurate, these Russian actions would
represent a dramatic and brutal escalation of the conflict in
Georgia," Bush said. "These actions would be inconsistent with
assurances we have received from Russia that its objectives were
limited to restoring the status quo in South Ossetia that existed
before fighting began on Aug. 6."
Bush said that the Russian military campaign has harmed Moscow's
own international standing and that an extended conflict would
damage Russian relations with the United States and Europe.
"These actions have substantially damaged Russia's standing in the
world," Bush said. "Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring
state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people.
Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said.
(Deutsche Welle)
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