PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world

08 August 2008

United States Seeks Emergency Mediation to Defuse Georgia Crisis

Rice says Russia should halt attacks, withdraw forces from South Ossetia

 
Georgian family  (© AP Images)
A Georgian family evacuates its home outside Tskhinvali.

Washington -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is urging Russia to halt its attacks in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia as the United States reaches out to its European allies to assemble an emergency mediation effort to defuse the crisis.  “We urgently seek Russia’s support,” she said.

“We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia’s territorial integrity, and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil,” Rice said in an August 8 statement as Russian troops, warplanes and tanks crossed into the Moscow-backed breakaway region to drive back a Georgian offensive to take back the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, following several days of cross-border clashes.  Georgian and South Ossetian officials have accused each other of initiating the hostilities.

State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the United States is sending an envoy to the region. Envoys from the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also were heading to Georgia.

President Bush is being updated regularly on the crisis while attending opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, says White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who also confirms that Bush has spoken with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the event.

“I want to reiterate on [Bush’s] behalf that the United States supports Georgia's territorial integrity and we call for an immediate cease-fire,” Perino said.  “We urge all parties, Georgians, South Ossetians and Russians to de-escalate the tension and avoid conflict. We are working on mediation efforts to secure a cease-fire and we are urging the parties to restart their dialogue.”

“We’re monitoring it very closely,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. U.S. military officials, he added, are reaching out to their Georgian counterparts for information. Georgia has not requested assistance, he said. Since 2001, U.S. forces have trained and equipped Georgian forces, 4,000 of whom have served in international coalitions operating in both Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Russian armored column  (© AP Images)
A Russian armored column crossing into Georgia August 8

An emergency session on the crisis at the U.N. Security Council ended in deadlock when members were unable to reach agreement on a Russian-drafted text.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer issued a statement calling for a halt to hostilities and immediate direct talks.  The alliance expressed support for Georgia’s future membership aspirations at its 2008 Summit in Bucharest, Romania, over strong objections from Moscow.

South Ossetia, along with Georgia’s western Abkhazia region, declared independence from Georgia following brief but violent conflicts in the early 1990s that displaced thousands of families.  Both remain among several unresolved “frozen conflicts” across the territory of the former Soviet Union.  (See “South Caucasus Should Follow European Path, Says Fried.”

The United States supports the Georgian government’s commitment to peace and is working with France, Germany, Russia and Britain through the Friends of the U.N. Secretary-General on Georgia to get the process back on track. But while Russia may be a member of the Friends group, many of its recent actions in the region have caused concern in Washington, Rice said during a July 10 meeting in Tbilisi with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. 

Moscow has extended Russian citizenship to many current residents of the disputed territories, and Russian military personnel are known to be serving in both separatist governments and armed forces.  In recent months, Rice has expressed U.S. concern about Russia’s April order to expand its cooperation and assistance programs to the two breakaway regions, the Kremlin’s decision to deploy additional troops into the Abkhaz conflict zone without Georgia’s consent and repeated Russian violations of Georgia’s territory. Such violations include the incursion of four Russian warplanes into Georgian airspace on the eve of Rice’s Tbilisi visit, artillery and air strikes on Georgian villages bordering the regions and the recent Russian shoot-down of a Georgian unmanned surveillance plane.  (See “Rice Urges End to Separatist Violence in Georgia.”

“In view of Russia’s past provocative actions in South Ossetia, including the recent overflight of the region by Russian warplanes on July 8th, Moscow has a particular obligation to avoid further escalation of the situation,” said Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

“Maintaining the territorial integrity of Georgia is crucial to preserving stability in the region,” said Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Rice’s statement is available on America.gov.

Bookmark with:    What's this?