Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Russians 'leaving Georgian port'

Russian troops will remain in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali

Russian troops have begun withdrawing from the Georgian port of Poti, on the country's Black Sea coast, reports say.

A column of trucks, soldiers and armoured vehicles left the town, apparently heading towards Abkhazia, one of Georgia's pro-Russian regions.

Russia had agreed to pull its troops out of Georgia under a ceasefire deal brokered by the European Union to end a brief conflict with Georgia in August.

Troops are expected to remain within South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Earlier in the week Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow needed a continuing presence in Georgia's breakaway regions, to ensure security.

Moscow says it has established formal diplomatic ties with the administrations in the two regions, following an "irrevocable" decision - to recognise them as independent states.

Fighting between Russia and Georgia began on 7 August after the Georgian military tried to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia by force.

Russian forces launched a counter-attack and the conflict ended with the ejection of Georgian troops from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7613749.stm

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Russia says Georgia used weaponry from 14 states in conflict

17:22 | 10/ 09/ 2008

MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia deployed weaponry imported from 14 countries in its recent war with Russia over South Ossetia, Russia's chief military prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Georgia attacked South Ossetia on August 8 in an attempt to regain control over the republic, which split from Tbilisi in the early 1990s. Moscow subsequently launched a five-day operation to "force Georgia to accept peace."

"We have evidence showing that Georgia used against South Ossetia tanks, artillery, air defense systems, MLRS and other weaponry delivered from 14 countries," Sergei Fridinsky said, adding that the majority of military equipment came from the U.S. and Ukraine.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier accused the White House of provoking the conflict in Georgia in order to give an advantage to "one of" the U.S. presidential candidates. Washington has denied the allegation.

Russia's chief military prosecutor reiterated that in line with existing norms and regulations all weapons abandoned by Georgian troops during the conflict would be collected, counted, and stored at Russian military installations.

He also said that Russia would soon present evidence to international bodies proving that foreign instructors taught Georgian peacekeepers how to conduct sabotage operations. (Image gallery)

"The photos clearly show people in military uniforms, bearing foreign insignia, teaching Georgian peacekeepers sabotage techniques, including how to make improvised explosive devices for sabotage purposes," the official said.

From http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080910/116687950.html

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Heads roll in Georgian army shakeup

Georgia’s President Saakashvili has launched a massive clean up among senior officers of the Georgian army, in an attempt to find responsibility for defeat in the South Ossetian war.

Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said that the Georgian General Prosecutor’s office has also launched more than 4,000 cases against deserters.

He said that the troops were “demoralized” by the orders they received from their commanders and refused to shoot at peaceful civilians.

From http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/30276

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Abkhazia looks to join Belarus-Russia alliance

President Sergey Bagapsh, of the newly independent republic of Abkhazia, has announced it will apply to join the Union of Russia and Belarus. He also signalled Abkhazia’s intention to join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

"After signing the required agreements and documents we will make an application to join as a union state. If the CIS expands, we are ready to join it, as well as the CSTO," said Bagapsh.

He made the announcement at a Sochi press conference attended by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia on August 26. Belarus has yet to do so, but the country's president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has said he will consider the matter after the Belarus elections at the end of September. Belarus must recognize Abkhazia as an independent state before it can admit it into any political alliance.

The Union of Russia and Belarus functions as a platform for economic and political harmonisation between the two nations, and has put forward plans for a common currency and customs regime.

From http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/30272

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Georgian Killed Near Russian Post

11 September 2008

Raising tensions, a Georgian police officer was killed Wednesday by gunfire that came from the direction of a Russian checkpoint near separatist South Ossetia, a government spokesman said.

The policeman was at a Georgian checkpoint near Gori about a kilometer from the Russian post, Georgian Interior Ministry official Shota Utiashvili said. It was not immediately clear who opened fire. The Georgians did not return fire, and the policeman later died at a hospital, Utiashvili said.

An official at the headquarters of Russian forces in South Ossetia said Russian troops at the checkpoint did not open fire.

Meanwhile, more signs of Russian troop pullbacks emerged Wednesday. Russian forces began to dismantle another post near Abkhazia. Rustavi-2 TV showed Russian soldiers removing a fence at the post near Khobi.

Russian forces also appeared to be getting ready to withdraw from two sizable camps on the outskirts of the Black Sea port of Poti, Mayor Vano Saginadze said.

Since the war in early August, Russia has recognized Georgia's two separatist regions -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- as independent countries and has deployed forces at positions ringing the two regions.

Under a deal reached by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday, Russia has pledged to withdraw its forces from those zones within a month, after unarmed European Union observers are deployed. But Russia said it would maintain 7,600 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia for the foreseeable future.

Addressing the State Duma in a closed session Wednesday, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov informed deputies which units would be deployed to the two rebel regions, Interfax reported. A special brigade will be formed on the basis of the 693rd Motorized Infantry Regiment and will be permanently deployed in the South Ossetian towns of Tskhinvali and Dzhava, Interfax said.

Before Serdyukov's address, Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said the defense minister's report could be followed by a vote on whether to boost defense spending in the 2009-11 federal budget.

In Washington, the U.S. Defense Department said Tuesday that it was sending an assessment team to Georgia to help determine the country's "legitimate needs" as a way of showing U.S. support for its security.

Russia moved to block the U.S. effort at the United Nations. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin circulated a draft resolution to the Security Council that would impose a UN arms embargo on Georgia, preventing the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms to the country.

n Israel has told businessmen involved in military sales to Georgia to cease visits to the former Soviet republic for the time being, Israeli defense officials said Wednesday.

The decision was made this week because Israel is concerned about damage to its relations with Russia, the officials said.

For the same reason, Israel decided to stop most weapons sales to Georgia even before the Russia-Georgia war last month.

From http://www.themoscowtimes.com/articl.../42/370857.htm

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

2 weeks ago: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, visits air force pilot Vyacheslav Malkov, left, wounded when his plane was shot down by Georgian forces, in the Burdenko military hospital in Moscow ,Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008.

2 weeks ago: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (C) speaks with wounded in South Ossetia Russian pilot as Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov (R) enters a room in a hospital in Moscow on August 23, 2008.

2 weeks ago: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (C) speaks with wounded in South Ossetia Russian pilot and his relative in a hospital in Moscow on August 23, 2008.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin heads up a meeting in Moscow on August 25, 2008.


2 weeks ago:

Russian multiple rocket launchers "Uragan" passes a banner featuring a portrait of Russian Prime Vladimir Putin as they leave South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali on August 25, 2008.

Russian troops atop an armored vehicle pass by a big poster of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as they leave Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's separatist-controlled territory of South Ossetia, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008.


Vladimir Putin's flight aboard a Tu-160 strategic bomber

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJKgPZhZXQU

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

The Georgians ran like rabits.....


1 month ago: Georgian soldiers sit on a tank moving near the town of Tskhinvali, some 100 km (62 miles) from Tbilisi, August 10, 2008. Georgia has withdrawn its forces from breakaway South Ossetia, where they had been fighting Russian troops for control, the Georgian interior ministry said on Sunday. But the Russian army said Georgian forces were still there. The announcement of a pullout followed three days of fighting in a Georgian push to take control of the pro-Moscow enclave from separatists, which prompted Russia to pour troops into South Ossetia and launch air strikes inside Georgia.

Georgian army flees in disarray as Russians advance

The Georgian Army was in complete disarray last night after troops and tanks fled the town of Gori in panic and abandoned it to the Russians without firing a shot.
VIDEO - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4509692.ece

3 weeks ago: A Russian soldier examines an abandoned Georgian army barracks 95 km east of Sukhumi in the town Ptysh on August 18, 2008 in the breakaway Abkhazia region. Georgia's actions in South Ossetia were excessive and "must not go unpunished", Russian news agencies quoted President Dmitry Medvedev as saying.

3 weeks ago: A Russian soldier examines an abandoned Georgian army barracks 95 km east of Sukhumi in the town Ptysh on August 18, 2008 in the breakaway Abkhazia region. Georgia's actions in South Ossetia were excessive and "must not go unpunished", Russian news agencies quoted President Dmitry Medvedev as saying.

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

I don't think it was posted before. This is funny....

Georgian army flees in disarray as Russians advance

The Georgian Army was in complete disarray last night after troops and tanks fled the town of Gori in panic and abandoned it to the Russians without firing a shot.

As Russian armoured columns rolled deep into central and western Georgia, seizing several towns and a military base, President Saakashvili said that his country had been cut in half.

For the first time since the crisis erupted last Thursday, Russia admitted that its troops had moved out of Abkhazia, the other breakaway region under Moscow’s protection, and seized the town of Senaki in Georgia proper. Russian officials again insisted that they had no intention of occupying territory beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia.


VIDEO - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4509692.ece

[jgk3]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

very impressive, always ensuring that the table stays open for deals with the west even while ties with Russia strengthen.

I think it's important to note that at least part of these diplomatic statements are lip service, and what's good is that are stances that still serve the interests or Armenia in the long run.

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Armenia Rules Out Abkhazia, South Ossetia Recognition

By Emil Danielyan

President Serzh Sarkisian has made clear that Armenia will not formally recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states any time soon, while reiterating his support for their residents’ right to self-determination.

In a wide-ranging foreign policy speech made public late Wednesday, he also indicated that Armenia will continue to seek simultaneously good relations with Russia, the West and other major regional players after the devastating war in neighboring Georgia. He said the Russian-Georgian conflict underlined the need for his landlocked country to have “alternative transit routes” for external commerce running through Iran and Turkey.

“Today one is wodenring from time to time why Armenia is not recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Sarkisian said, speaking at an annual meeting of Armenian ambassadors abroad. “The answer is simple: for the same reason that it did not recognize Kosovo’s independence. Having the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia can not recognize another entity in the same situation as long as it has not recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”

The realization of a nation’s right to self-determination “takes times” and requires the understanding of “all interested parties,” explained Sarkisian. That is why Armenia will keep trying to “convince” Azerbaijan to come to terms with the loss of Karabakh, he said.

Russia unilaterally recognized the two breakaway regions after crushing Georgian in a brief war over South Ossetia and seems to be pressing Armenia and its other allies to follow suit. The issue will be on the agenda of Friday’s meeting in Moscow of presidents of Russia, Armenia and four other ex-Soviet states aligned in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). President Dmitry Medvedev already discussed it with Sarkisian at his summer retreat in the Black Sea city of Sochi on Tuesday.

With more than 70 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade carried out through Georgian territory, antagonizing Georgia would prove disastrous for a country already blockaded by Azerbaijan and Turkey. The Armenian economy has already been affected by major disruptions in rail and ferry traffic caused by the Russian-Georgian war. The war has also called into question continued vital supplies of Russian natural gas to Armenia through a pipeline passing via Georgia.

“Naturally, we are interested in a rapid and peaceful resolution of Georgia’s problems and the establishment of lasting peace there,” Sarkisian said. He at the same time again criticized Tbilisi for attempting settle the South Ossetian conflict by force and said the de facto secession of this and other territories does set a precedent for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

“Let them repeat that Kosovo is not a precedent, and some may say that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are not precedents either,” he said. “But the fact is that exceptions not considered precedents are beginning to set a pattern for the resolution of such conflicts.”

Sarkisian further announced that Armenia is poised to end its heavy dependence on Russia for natural gas with the impending launch of a gas pipeline from Iran. “Thank God, the gas pipeline has already been built, and we can receive gas from the Islamic Republic of Iran as early as tomorrow,” he said. “Work on enhancing the capacity of that pipeline will likely end in late October or early November, and we will be able to import from 2 to 2.5 billion cubic meters of [Iranian] gas each year. That is, as much as we import now [from Russia.]”

Sarkisian went on to speak of his “political expectations” from Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s upcoming visit to Yerevan and the broader thaw in Turkish-Armenian relations. “Without forgetting the past, we should look to the future, form an agenda of mutual interest and start contacts without preconditions,” he said.

The Armenian leader specifically stressed the importance of reopening the Turkish-Armenian border, telling his top diplomats to help generate greater international pressure for the relaunch of the Gyumri-Kars rail link. “Arm yourselves with maps, statistical data and arguments: we must make sure everyone realizes that these several kilometers of railway can radically change the whole picture of regional partnership.”

Sarkisian further stated that he intends to “deepen and strengthen” Armenia’s “friendly partnership” with the United States as well as other Western powers and structures. He said he will be personally overseeing his government’s implementation of a plan of actions stemming from Armenia’s inclusion in the European Union’s European Neighborhood Policy program.

And he confirmed that a planned NATO-led military exercise in Armenia will go ahead later this month despite the latest upsurge in Russia-West tensions over Georgia. Yerevan will “consistently” take other actions stemming from its Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), he said. Those include Armenian participation in the NATO-led peace-keeping missions in Kosovo and possibly Afghanistan.

Sarkisian and his predecessor Robert Kocharian have repeatedly stated that despite growing security ties with the West, Armenia will not seek membership in NATO in the foreseeable future and that the military alliance with Russia remains the bedrock of its defense doctrine. Sarkisian reaffirmed this “complementary” policy in his speech.

“We will by all means develop and expand our strategic allied relations with Russia, which are based on the centuries-old friendship of our peoples,” he said.

From http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeni...741767F725.ASP