I don't think this has anything to do with Bush and Co. I know that sounds shocking from an anti-Bush man, but there is only so much influence he actually has out there. Yes, we may have abused the positions of the emerging former Soviet nations, but this is more about Russia's re-emergence as a world power and its attempt to exert its force to regain what it has lost to create a unified whole again. They've already returned to Cold War-era rhetoric and freedom limitations. Vladimir Putin's basically been instated as a dictator for life disguised as a Prime Minister. He has so much control over Russia that Medvedev, who most people haven't even heard of, may as well be a puppet.
No, this isn't a US issue, though it may have kernels of US foreign policy failures. This is entirely a Russian thing.
Is This the New Chechnya?
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OscarGuy
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Russia halts military work with NATO: Norway
1 hour, 23 minutes ago
OSLO (Reuters) - Doubts surfaced over the future of military cooperation between NATO and Russia on Wednesday after Norway said Moscow had informed it of a decision to freeze all joint work with the alliance in the row over Georgia.
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However Russia's ambassador to NATO played down any future steps, saying the decisions were "of temporary character, of regional character, not global character." A NATO spokeswoman said it had no notification of a Russian move.
"Norway has noted that Russia has decided for the time being to 'freeze' all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries," Norway's Defence Ministry said on its website.
A defence ministry spokeswoman told Reuters that Moscow had sent "a message" to Oslo -- with which it has had warm relations -- about the freeze but declined to provide further details.
On Tuesday NATO countries agreed after U.S. pressure on to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal.
NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said the alliance had heard nothing from Moscow on military cooperation. "NATO has not received any notification from the Russians saying they are going to cut military cooperation activities," she said.
Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin said curtailing contacts was "in nobody's interest." "Temporary decisions are being taken on current cooperation and not about cooperation in general," he told Reuters in English.
Asked which areas these involved, he said: "Military naval exercises in the Far East, the Mediterranean, in the Baltic."
NO DECISION
However he said no decision had been taken to end cooperation with the alliance's big operation against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan, under which Moscow allows the transit of non-lethal equipment for NATO via its territory.
"This is not going to happen. If Afghanistan is the new Vietnam for the Americans then it will be a problem for Russia itself ... We are not interested in the alliance's failure in Afghanistan."
Months of tension between Georgia and Russia erupted on August 7, when Tbilisi sought to regain control of the breakaway South Ossetia region. Russia launched a massive counter-offensive that extended into the Georgian heartland.
Russia has been incensed by NATO's promise of membership to Georgia. This would take NATO right up to Russia's southern border and many analysts believe a similar promise of membership for Ukraine was behind this month's fighting.
Washington responded to Russian intervention in Georgia by excluding Moscow from discussions among the Group of Eight nations and making clear that Russia's membership of bodies like the World Trade Organization could be in jeopardy.
NATO has also barred a Russian ship from joining an anti-terrorism exercise and did not agree to a Russian request for an emergency meeting on the crisis in the Caucasus.
Norwegian Deputy Defence Minister Espen Barth Eide told the online version of newspaper Aftenposten that Oslo's relations with Russia had "cooled off."
"We wish to continue the cooperation with Russia as far as possible but now the conflict with Russia has escalated further. It's a quite demanding security policy landscape that's developing," Eide was quoted as saying.
Norway and Russia share a border in the Arctic and have good working relations in areas ranging from fishing rights to the exploitation of natural resources. A large swathe of the Barents Sea has overlapping claims by both Oslo and Moscow, however..
(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa and Richard Solem in Oslo, Amie Ferris-Rotman in Moscow and David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Editing by Giles Elgood)
1 hour, 23 minutes ago
OSLO (Reuters) - Doubts surfaced over the future of military cooperation between NATO and Russia on Wednesday after Norway said Moscow had informed it of a decision to freeze all joint work with the alliance in the row over Georgia.
ADVERTISEMENT
However Russia's ambassador to NATO played down any future steps, saying the decisions were "of temporary character, of regional character, not global character." A NATO spokeswoman said it had no notification of a Russian move.
"Norway has noted that Russia has decided for the time being to 'freeze' all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries," Norway's Defence Ministry said on its website.
A defence ministry spokeswoman told Reuters that Moscow had sent "a message" to Oslo -- with which it has had warm relations -- about the freeze but declined to provide further details.
On Tuesday NATO countries agreed after U.S. pressure on to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal.
NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said the alliance had heard nothing from Moscow on military cooperation. "NATO has not received any notification from the Russians saying they are going to cut military cooperation activities," she said.
Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin said curtailing contacts was "in nobody's interest." "Temporary decisions are being taken on current cooperation and not about cooperation in general," he told Reuters in English.
Asked which areas these involved, he said: "Military naval exercises in the Far East, the Mediterranean, in the Baltic."
NO DECISION
However he said no decision had been taken to end cooperation with the alliance's big operation against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan, under which Moscow allows the transit of non-lethal equipment for NATO via its territory.
"This is not going to happen. If Afghanistan is the new Vietnam for the Americans then it will be a problem for Russia itself ... We are not interested in the alliance's failure in Afghanistan."
Months of tension between Georgia and Russia erupted on August 7, when Tbilisi sought to regain control of the breakaway South Ossetia region. Russia launched a massive counter-offensive that extended into the Georgian heartland.
Russia has been incensed by NATO's promise of membership to Georgia. This would take NATO right up to Russia's southern border and many analysts believe a similar promise of membership for Ukraine was behind this month's fighting.
Washington responded to Russian intervention in Georgia by excluding Moscow from discussions among the Group of Eight nations and making clear that Russia's membership of bodies like the World Trade Organization could be in jeopardy.
NATO has also barred a Russian ship from joining an anti-terrorism exercise and did not agree to a Russian request for an emergency meeting on the crisis in the Caucasus.
Norwegian Deputy Defence Minister Espen Barth Eide told the online version of newspaper Aftenposten that Oslo's relations with Russia had "cooled off."
"We wish to continue the cooperation with Russia as far as possible but now the conflict with Russia has escalated further. It's a quite demanding security policy landscape that's developing," Eide was quoted as saying.
Norway and Russia share a border in the Arctic and have good working relations in areas ranging from fishing rights to the exploitation of natural resources. A large swathe of the Barents Sea has overlapping claims by both Oslo and Moscow, however..
(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa and Richard Solem in Oslo, Amie Ferris-Rotman in Moscow and David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
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OscarGuy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 13668
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 12:22 am
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Russian soldiers take prisoners in Georgia port
By BELA SZANDELSZKY, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago
POTI, Georgia - Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.
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The move came as a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left the strategic city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops from Georgia after a cease-fire intended to end fighting that reignited Cold War tensions.
The two countries on Tuesday also exchanged prisoners. However, Russian soldiers also seized Georgians in Poti — the country's key oil port city — and commandeered four U.S. Humvees that had been used in U.S.-Georgian military exercises.
It was the latest example of Russia still demonstrating its military prowess, leaving Georgians to wonder if Russia planned an extended military occupation or was still inflicting punishment before adhering to a promised troop withdrawal.
At an emergency meeting in Brussels, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her 25 NATO counterparts demanded that Russia immediately withdraw its troops from Georgia, a U.S. ally that wants to join NATO.
"It is time for the Russian president to keep his word to withdraw Russian forces," Rice told a news conference.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lashed back, telling a hastily gathered news conference that the alliance was supporting an aggressive Georgia.
NATO "is trying to make a victim of the aggressor, to absolve of guilt a criminal regime, to save a collapsed regime; and is taking a course to rearm the current leaders of Georgia," Lavrov said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told French President Nicolas Sarkozy by phone Tuesday that Russian troops will withdraw from most of Georgia by Friday, the Kremlin said — some to Russia, others to South Ossetia and a surrounding "security zone" set in 1999.
In Poti, Russian forces blocked access to the city's naval and commercial ports on Tuesday morning and towed the missile boat Dioskuria, one of the navy's most sophisticated vessels, out of sight of observers. A loud explosion was heard minutes later. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shote Utiashvili said the Russian military blew up the Dioskuria.
Several hours later, an Associated Press photographer saw Russian trucks and armored personnel carriers leaving the port with about 20 blindfolded and handcuffed men riding on them.
Poti Mayor Vano Taginadze said the Russians seized 22 military and police troops because the Georgians refused to let Russian armored vehicles enter the port. The Georgians were taken to the nearby Senaki military base, now controlled by Russia.
There were conflicting reports from Georgian officials late Tuesday on whether the men were freed, or some were still detained, or all were to be released Wednesday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said officials were looking into the reported theft of the Humvees.
The deputy head of Russia's general staff, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said Russian forces plan to remain in Poti until a local administration is formed, but did not give further details. He also justified previous seizures of Georgian soldiers as necessary to crack down on soldiers who were "out of any kind of control ... acting without command."
An AP television crew has seen Russian troops in and around Poti all week, with local port officials saying the Russians had destroyed radar, boats and other Coast Guard equipment there.
A Georgian official also said Russians were slowing down food aid shipments to Poti.
"Right now there are Russian soldiers and tanks at Poti," Georgian Finance Minister Nika Gilavri said. "They want to open every single container" and inspect them.
Russian troops last week drove Georgian forces out of South Ossetia, where Georgia on Aug. 7 launched a heavy artillery barrage in the separatist Georgian province with close ties to Russia. Fighting also has flared in a second Russian-backed separatist region, Abkhazia.
The short war has driven tensions between Russia and the West to some of their highest levels since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
Tensions also have flared between Ukraine and Russia amid fears that Moscow might next set sights on Ukraine, another ex-Soviet republic whose government is seeking NATO membership.
The two countries sparred Tuesday over Russia's use of naval base in the port of Sevastopol, which it is renting from Ukraine. The Kremlin has made it clear it wants the Russian ships to remain in Sevastopol even when the current lease agreement expires in 2017.
Ukraine's pro-Western President, Victor Yushchenko, sided with Georgia in its conflict with Russia and moved to restrict the movement of Russian ships in the port, saying the vessels' movements were subject to Kiev's approval.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Volodymyr Ohryzko, later sought to cool tensions and said that Ukraine will not physically prevent Russian ships from entering and leaving the naval base.
Meanwhile in central Georgia, a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left Gori, and a Russian officer said they were heading back to South Ossetia and then Russia. Col. Igor Konoshenkov, a Russian military officer at the scene, gave no timetable for when the unit would reach Russia.
But other Russian troops and military vehicles remained in and around Gori following the pullout. A cease-fire requires both Georgia and Russia to return to positions held before the fighting began.
"It didn't take them really three or four days to get into Georgia, and it really shouldn't take them three or four days to get out," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President Bush is spending time at his ranch.
"It needs to happen faster; that's what they've agreed to," Johndroe said.
Russia's foreign minister called a snap news conference in Moscow to respond to Tuesday's remarks by NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who accused Russia of occupying Georgia and said "there can be no business as normal under the current circumstances."
Lavrov said Russian withdrawal depended "first of all, on the return of Georgian troops" to their permanent bases.
"This still hasn't happened. Every day several episodes still occur when our servicemen detain Georgian troops" who haven't returned to their bases as agreed, he said.
Also Tuesday, Russia and Georgia exchanged 20 prisoners of war in an effort to reduce tensions. Two Russian military helicopters landed in Igoeti, where Georgian Security Council head Alexander Lomaia told reporters that 15 Georgians and five Russians were exchanged. "It went smoothly," he said. The operation also witnessed by Russian Maj. Gen. Vyacheslav Borisov, who commands troops in the area.
Edited By OscarGuy on 1219264585
By BELA SZANDELSZKY, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago
POTI, Georgia - Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.
ADVERTISEMENT
The move came as a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left the strategic city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops from Georgia after a cease-fire intended to end fighting that reignited Cold War tensions.
The two countries on Tuesday also exchanged prisoners. However, Russian soldiers also seized Georgians in Poti — the country's key oil port city — and commandeered four U.S. Humvees that had been used in U.S.-Georgian military exercises.
It was the latest example of Russia still demonstrating its military prowess, leaving Georgians to wonder if Russia planned an extended military occupation or was still inflicting punishment before adhering to a promised troop withdrawal.
At an emergency meeting in Brussels, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her 25 NATO counterparts demanded that Russia immediately withdraw its troops from Georgia, a U.S. ally that wants to join NATO.
"It is time for the Russian president to keep his word to withdraw Russian forces," Rice told a news conference.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lashed back, telling a hastily gathered news conference that the alliance was supporting an aggressive Georgia.
NATO "is trying to make a victim of the aggressor, to absolve of guilt a criminal regime, to save a collapsed regime; and is taking a course to rearm the current leaders of Georgia," Lavrov said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told French President Nicolas Sarkozy by phone Tuesday that Russian troops will withdraw from most of Georgia by Friday, the Kremlin said — some to Russia, others to South Ossetia and a surrounding "security zone" set in 1999.
In Poti, Russian forces blocked access to the city's naval and commercial ports on Tuesday morning and towed the missile boat Dioskuria, one of the navy's most sophisticated vessels, out of sight of observers. A loud explosion was heard minutes later. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shote Utiashvili said the Russian military blew up the Dioskuria.
Several hours later, an Associated Press photographer saw Russian trucks and armored personnel carriers leaving the port with about 20 blindfolded and handcuffed men riding on them.
Poti Mayor Vano Taginadze said the Russians seized 22 military and police troops because the Georgians refused to let Russian armored vehicles enter the port. The Georgians were taken to the nearby Senaki military base, now controlled by Russia.
There were conflicting reports from Georgian officials late Tuesday on whether the men were freed, or some were still detained, or all were to be released Wednesday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said officials were looking into the reported theft of the Humvees.
The deputy head of Russia's general staff, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said Russian forces plan to remain in Poti until a local administration is formed, but did not give further details. He also justified previous seizures of Georgian soldiers as necessary to crack down on soldiers who were "out of any kind of control ... acting without command."
An AP television crew has seen Russian troops in and around Poti all week, with local port officials saying the Russians had destroyed radar, boats and other Coast Guard equipment there.
A Georgian official also said Russians were slowing down food aid shipments to Poti.
"Right now there are Russian soldiers and tanks at Poti," Georgian Finance Minister Nika Gilavri said. "They want to open every single container" and inspect them.
Russian troops last week drove Georgian forces out of South Ossetia, where Georgia on Aug. 7 launched a heavy artillery barrage in the separatist Georgian province with close ties to Russia. Fighting also has flared in a second Russian-backed separatist region, Abkhazia.
The short war has driven tensions between Russia and the West to some of their highest levels since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
Tensions also have flared between Ukraine and Russia amid fears that Moscow might next set sights on Ukraine, another ex-Soviet republic whose government is seeking NATO membership.
The two countries sparred Tuesday over Russia's use of naval base in the port of Sevastopol, which it is renting from Ukraine. The Kremlin has made it clear it wants the Russian ships to remain in Sevastopol even when the current lease agreement expires in 2017.
Ukraine's pro-Western President, Victor Yushchenko, sided with Georgia in its conflict with Russia and moved to restrict the movement of Russian ships in the port, saying the vessels' movements were subject to Kiev's approval.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Volodymyr Ohryzko, later sought to cool tensions and said that Ukraine will not physically prevent Russian ships from entering and leaving the naval base.
Meanwhile in central Georgia, a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left Gori, and a Russian officer said they were heading back to South Ossetia and then Russia. Col. Igor Konoshenkov, a Russian military officer at the scene, gave no timetable for when the unit would reach Russia.
But other Russian troops and military vehicles remained in and around Gori following the pullout. A cease-fire requires both Georgia and Russia to return to positions held before the fighting began.
"It didn't take them really three or four days to get into Georgia, and it really shouldn't take them three or four days to get out," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President Bush is spending time at his ranch.
"It needs to happen faster; that's what they've agreed to," Johndroe said.
Russia's foreign minister called a snap news conference in Moscow to respond to Tuesday's remarks by NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who accused Russia of occupying Georgia and said "there can be no business as normal under the current circumstances."
Lavrov said Russian withdrawal depended "first of all, on the return of Georgian troops" to their permanent bases.
"This still hasn't happened. Every day several episodes still occur when our servicemen detain Georgian troops" who haven't returned to their bases as agreed, he said.
Also Tuesday, Russia and Georgia exchanged 20 prisoners of war in an effort to reduce tensions. Two Russian military helicopters landed in Igoeti, where Georgian Security Council head Alexander Lomaia told reporters that 15 Georgians and five Russians were exchanged. "It went smoothly," he said. The operation also witnessed by Russian Maj. Gen. Vyacheslav Borisov, who commands troops in the area.
Edited By OscarGuy on 1219264585
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin