Russia 'damaging Georgia'
2008-08-20 14:08
Georgia - A convoy of flatbed trucks carrying badly needed food aid to beleaguered Georgians rumbled through a Russian checkpoint on Wednesday, waved past by soldiers who showed no signs of moving to fulfil their president's promise of a pullback within two days.
The Igoeti checkpoint, about 50km west of the capital Tbilisi, is one of the deepest penetrations made by Russian forces into Georgia after fighting broke out in a Russian-backed separatist region nearly two weeks ago.
Under a ceasefire agreement, Russian and Georgian forces are to pull back to positions they held before the fighting in South Ossetia started.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says his troops will complete the moves by Friday, but few signs of movement have been seen other than the departure of a small portion of the troops who have held the strategic city of Gori, another 40km west of Igoeti.
The Russian seizure of Gori and villages in the region has left thousands of people with scarce and uncertain food supplies. The nine flatbed trucks carrying aid from the World Food Programme could bring them some small comfort for a few days.
The Russian forces in Georgia appear to be aiming to weaken Georgia's military before the pullout, through detentions and destruction.
On Tuesday, Russian forces drove out of the Black Sea port city of Poti in trucks and armoured personnel carriers loaded with about 20 blindfolded and bound Georgian prisoners - identified by local officials as soldiers and police - and seized four US Humvees.
They reportedly were taken to a Russian-controlled military base nearby, and Georgian Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili said on Wednesday they still were being held.
Tense standoff
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said on Tuesday that Russia was not only flouting its withdrawal commitment but that its forces were "not losing time" in damaging Georgia by destroying infrastructure.
Georgian television showed footage of a tense standoff at a military training base in northwestern Georgia, where Russian troops tried to enter but were turned away by Georgian police. There was no violence, but the report said the Russians threatened to return and destroy the base if they were not allowed in.
The two nations did exchange 20 prisoners of war - 15 Georgians and five Russians, according to the head of Georgia's Security Council - in an effort to reduce tensions.
On the diplomatic front, Nato foreign ministers suspended their formal contacts with Russia as punishment. Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said "there can be no business as usual with Russia under present circumstances".
But the Nato allies, bowing to pressure from European nations that depend heavily on Russia for energy, stopped short of more severe penalties being pushed by the United States.
The Russian Ambassador to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, dismissed the impact of the emergency meeting in Brussels, Belgium: "The mountain gave birth to a mouse."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Nato was trying to make a victim of Georgia's "criminal regime". Russia strongly opposes Georgia's desire for Nato membership.
Lavrov said Georgian troops needed to pull back to their permanent bases first. The UN Security Council also was holding emergency consultations on the conflict.
The White House made clear it expected Russia to move faster. "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," spokesperson Gordon Johndroe said.
- AP