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Rice flies in to underline US support for Georgia
Ed Harris, Evening Standard15 Aug 2008
The US Secretary of State was today flying into the Georgian capital as international efforts to end the escalating conflict with Russia were stepped up.
Condoleezza Rice was due to hand a formal ceasefire agreement to the country's embattled president, Mikhail Saakashvili, in a show of US support for Georgia in the face of Russia's military advance into its territory.
The latest diplomatic move comes amid reports that Russian troops were continuing to block access to the strategically key city of Gori, raising doubts about whether Russia was prepared to honour an agreement to pull its forces back.
The city is on Georgia's main eastwest road, and the Russian presence effectively cuts the country in two.
Tensions between the two sides remained high today as Georgian officials accused Russia of sending tanks and other armoured vehicles to within 35 miles of Kutaisi, Georgia's second largest city. The US and Georgia's American ambassador accused Russia of waging a "scorched earth" policy in Georgia, claiming that it had sent tank columns to search out and destroy Georgian military equipment.
Ms Rice was expected in Tbilisi to present Mr Saakashvili with the ceasefire agreement, which she was given by French president Nicolas Sarkozy when they met at his summer home in the south of France.
She said that both the US and France strongly backed Georgia's territorial integrity and accused Russia of failing to respect the ceasefire. "Georgia, whose territorial integrity, independenceand sovereignty we fully respect, must be able to go back to normal life," she said.
Mr Sarkozy, who negotiated the deal on behalf of the European Union, urged both sides "to consolidate the cessation of hostilities and accelerate the withdrawal of Russian forces to their positions prior to 7 August".
Under the ceasefire agreement, Russian forces are to pull back to the positions they held before the fighting that broke out a week ago in the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia, and which saw Russian forces enter Georgia itself.
Moscow has shown little appetite for agreeing to the West's demands. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, yesterday said Georgia could "forget about" getting back its two breakaway provinces.
The US said its relationship with Russia could be harmed for years because of Moscow's "aggression".
Defence Secretary Robert Gates, speaking in Washington, said Moscow's behaviour had profound security implications.
