Russia must withdraw from Georgia, Rice says
Washington, 15 August (IranVNC)—Russian forces must withdraw from Georgian territory, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvil signed French-brokered peace deal earlier today.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, August 15, 2008
17:00GMT—1:00PM/EST
BUSH – RICE – GEORGIA
Washington, 15 August (IranVNC)—Russian forces must withdraw from Georgian territory, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvil signed French-brokered peace deal earlier today.
"Our most urgent task today is the immediate and orderly withdrawal of Russian armed forces and the return of those forces to Russia," Rice said, speaking alongside Saakashvil in the capital Tbilisi.
Relations between Moscow and Washington have been strained since Georgia carried out military operations against the Russian-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
"Russian forces need to leave Georgia at once," Rice said. "This is no longer 1968," she added, referring to the invasion of then-Czechoslovakia by Soviet Union forces.
France’s President Nicholas Sarkozy, who spearheaded ceasefire negotiations, welcomed the signing of the accord.
"The President of the Republic considers that the conditions are now in place for the rapid adoption of a resolution by the [United Nations] Security Council and the definition of an international mechanism which will be charged with overseeing the implementation of the agreement on the ground," Sarkozy's office said in a statement, reports Reuters.
The agreement provides for the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities. It does not, however, address the long-running territorial dispute over the separatist regions.
The accord also gives Russia limited, new authority to patrol Georgian territory. This is a cause for concern in Washington, a senior US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
But en route to Georgia, Rice said that part of the agreement was a “temporary measure” until third-party peacekeepers and observers arrive, Reuters reports.
Prior to the signing of the accord, US President George W. Bush reiterated his support for Georgia and warned that Russia “has damaged” its credibility with Western nations as a result of its weeklong military conflict.
"With its actions in recent days, Russia has damaged its credibility and its relations with the nations of the free world. Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century,” Bush said in a live broadcast from the White House.
Iran’s media react
After Russia agreed on 12 August to sign a ceasefire accord with Georgia, Iran’s conservative daily, Kayhan, published an editorial by Hossein Shariatmadari, which criticized Georgia for having close diplomatic ties with the U.S.
“The fiasco along with tens of others can be a lesson for groups in our country who have capitulated to pro-Westerners or those fools who are uninformed about the world’s governing conditions and think of relations with America as the way to resolve the problems of Islamic Iran, and thereby raising the profile of the country on the international stage. They take to their mouths the language of prostration or ignorance and constantly write prescriptions for ‘direct talks’, ‘establishing relations’ and friendship with America. ” Shariatmadari wrote.
Sources: Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Kayhan Newspaper in Persian
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