Remarks with Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Tbilisi International Airport
Tbilisi, Georgia
August 15, 2008FOREIGN MINISTER TKESHELASHVILI: (In Georgian.)
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Eka. And I want very much to just underscore what the Foreign Minister has said. We’ve had a productive day. We believe now that the signing of the ceasefire accord by President Saakashvili should bring about the withdrawal of Russian forces. We are very pleased that this joint effort of the European Union and the United States has produced this outcome. The European Union took the lead. President Sarkozy has devoted a lot of time and effort to this, he and his Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner. And I think it’s been very productive.
And so it’s obviously a very emotional time here in Georgia. I was just at a hospital with some of the victims of the conflict, and so it’s clearly a very emotional time. But I think that it should still be seen that this was also a productive day, and I hope now that peace can return to Georgia and Georgians to return to a normal life.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Please --
SECRETARY RICE: No – thank you, we’ve got to go. I’m already several hours late. (Laughter.) Thank you.
2008/T23-3
Released on August 15, 2008
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