Russia 'wrecking military bases' during Georgia pull-out
Russia was accused of sabotaging airfields and other military bases in Georgia as its forces pulled back today.
The destruction was part of a deliberate attempt to cripple the already battered Georgian forces, a US official said.
Explosions were heard near Gori as a Russian troop withdrawal from the strategic city seemed to collapse.
A fragile cease-fire appeared even more shaky as Russia’s foreign minister declared that the world “can forget about any talk about Georgia’s territorial integrity.”
Meanwhile the United States poured aid into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in a direct challenge to Russia’s military moves to retake territory in the former Soviet republic.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launched emergency talks in France aimed at heading off a wider conflict.
Ms Rice met French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has led the European pressure campaign on Russia, at his summer residence in southern France. Tomorrow she plans to fly to Tbilisi.
Ahead of the talks she said that Russia’s military action in Georgia is a throwback to darker Cold War times.
“The message is that Russia has perhaps not accepted that it is time to move on from the Cold War and it is time to move to a new era in which relations between states are on the basis of equality, and sovereignty and economic integration,” she said.
As the United States delivered humanitarian aid to Georgia, President George Bush demanded that Russia end all military activity inside its neighbour and withdraw all troops sent in recent days onto Georgian territory.
He announced that US military would be deployed into the conflict zone. Although they going there only on a humanitarian mission, he made a point of noting that “we will use US aircraft, as well as naval forces” to distribute supplies. He warned Russia not to impede relief efforts in any way.
All this appeared designed to answer criticism that he has not done enough to stand by his 2005 pledge, made from the centre of Tbilisi before tens of thousands of citizens, to “stand with” the people of Georgia.
Amid some fear that Russian troops may be setting up for some type of medium-term occupation of parts of Georgia or even have intentions to press on to its capital of Tbilisi, Bush promised to “rally the free world in the defense of a free Georgia.”
The Kremlin announced today that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was meeting with the leaders of Georgia’s two separatist provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
“One can forget about any talk about Georgia’s territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Russia and Georgia agreed on Tuesday to the French-brokered cease-fire to end the dispute that began over two pro-Russian breakaway territories. The United States accuses Russia of pressing the war far beyond the initial conflict zone and threatening the democratically elected government in Georgia.
Western intelligence has had difficulty determining exactly what is happening on the ground in Georgia, despite considerable resources including spy satellites which have been repositioned to focus on the conflict area.
