Russia To Begin Georgia Pullout

But Medvedev Suggests Forces Could Remain In Separatist Region, Fueling Annexation Fears

(CBS/AP)  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russian troops will begin pulling back from Georgia on Monday as Western leaders pushed for a swift end to the stranglehold that the Russian military has exerted for days on its small southern neighbor.

On the ground in Georgia, the ceasefire seems to be holding, with Russian troops remaining in position around the strategic city of Gori, 20 miles from the break-away region of South Ossetia where the conflict erupted, reports CBS News national correspondent Thalia Assuras.

Humanitarian aid, some from the United States, continues to filter into the area in an effort to help more than 100,000 displaced civilians.

But on the diplomatic front, tensions remain high, Assuras reports. After a meeting in Tbilisi, Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel declared support for Georgia's entry into NATO, a statement likely to rankle the Kremlin. And Georgia's president continued talked tough.

Senior U.S. officials took a hard line too, declaring that Russia's actions have seriously strained relations with the West - and again accusing the Kremlin of reverting to a cold war stance.

Medvedev suggested that Russian forces could remain in separatist South Ossetia, the focus of the conflict. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said his country will not give up that breakaway region or another separatist province, Abkhazia.

"Georgia will never give up a square kilometer of its territory," Saakashvili told a news conference alongside Chancellor Merkel, the latest Western leader to visit Tbilisi and offer support for a country at the center of deepening tensions between Russia and the West.

"I expect a very fast, very prompt withdrawal of Russian troops out of Georgia," Merkel said in a courtyard at Saakashvili's official residence. "This is an urgent matter."

As she spoke, Russian tanks and troops continued to roam freely across a wide swath of Georgia and desperate Georgian refugees in Gori were seen shoving and shouting in an attempt to get bread.

Saakashvili alleged that Russian forces, far from withdrawing, had moved closer to the capital Saturday and - some of his trademark bluster still intact - vowed to defend Tbilisi if necessary. He also accused Russia of ethnic cleansing and said Georgia would not accept a future presence of Russian peacekeepers.

Medvedev told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Russian forces would begin their withdrawal Monday, moving toward South Ossetia and a security zone that roughly coincides with its borders, according to the Kremlin.

But he stopped short of promising they would return to Russia, suggesting that Russia could maintain a sizable force in South Ossetia. That would likely fuel fears that Russia could seek to annex the region, which - like Abkhazia - broke from government control in the 1990s and has declared independence.

Sarkozy warned Medvedev on the phone Sunday that Russia would face "serious consequences" if it did not begin the pullout - a sentiment echoed in Washington.

"I hope this time he'll keep his word," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after Medvedev's statement.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Russia was showing signs of returning to its authoritarian past - a development that will require the U.S. to re-evaluate the strategic relationship between the superpowers.

Georgia, bordering the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Under Saakashvili, Georgia has sought NATO membership and has emerged as a proxy for conflict between an emboldened Russia and the West.

The EU-backed cease-fire agreement calls for Georgian and Russian troops to withdraw to the positions they held before fighting broke out Aug. 7.

Russian troops still have a stranglehold on Georgia because they control the main highway running through the country and surround the central strategic city of Gori, the western city of Senaki and the Senaki air base.

Russian troops were entrenched on a hill after building ramparts around tanks and posting sentries near Igoeti, a central Georgia town only 30 miles west of Tbilisi.

There were several Russian checkpoints Sunday on the road between Igoeti and Gori, a central city not far from South Ossetia. Some armored vehicles stood off the side of the road, camouflaged with cut branches.

There were a few military vehicles but no longer any tanks at the checkpoint at the entrance to Gori, less fortified than in previous days.

In Gori itself, there was a light presence of Russian troops and a few tanks. Virtually all shops were closed and the streets almost empty, save for clusters of people, many from outlying villages, who gathered around aid vehicles and a basement bakery.

People shouted and shoved as they tried to grab loaves of bread and boxes. A few women appeared hysterical at the shifting nature of the food distribution from handouts to a registration system.

The Russians also controlled the Black Sea port city of Poti and the road north to Abkhazia.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry accused Russian army units and separatist fighters in Abkhazia of taking over 13 villages and the Inguri hydropower plant, shifting the border of the Black Sea province toward the Inguri River. Russia confirmed Sunday that its peacekeepers were in control of the western power plant.

The villages and plant are in a U.N.-established buffer zone on Abkhazia's edge, and it appeared the separatists were bolstering their control over the zone after forcing Georgians out of their last stronghold in Abkhazia last week.

"No matter what happens, we will never reconcile with the fact of annexation or indeed separation of parts of territory from Georgia; with the attempt to legalize ethnic cleansing; and with the attempts to bring Georgia to its knees and undermine our democratic system," Saakashvili said.

The West agrees that Georgia must not be broken up divided, Merkel said.

"Georgia is a sovereign state and the territorial integrity of the state must be provided for," she said.

She stressed German support for Georgia's NATO aspirations but said she did not know when that would happen. Merkel also suggested NATO could help rebuild the tattered Georgian military.

NATO offered Georgia assurance in April that it would eventually join NATO, but declined to offer it a blueprint for membership, in part because of fears in Germany and other European nations of angering Russia, a major EU energy supplier.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Georgia could "forget about" getting the two regions back. On Saturday, he said that Russia will boost its peacekeeping force in South Ossetia and will not withdraw its other troops until further security measures are taken.

In Tbilisi, the faithful went to church Sunday, praying and lighting candles in the city's Holy Trinity Cathedral, a Georgian Orthodox church.

"I wish peace for my country and for our children. We do not want to live in fear," resident Ia Kvirkvelia told an AP television news crew.

A large anti-Russian banner hung Sunday in front of the Parliament building in central Tbilisi: "No war, Russia go home."

In Italy, Pope Benedict XVI called for the immediate creation of a humanitarian corridor to speed aid to refugees and for all sides to respect the rights of ethnic minorities.

The conflict erupted after Georgia launched a massive barrage Aug. 7 to try to take control of South Ossetia. The Russian army quickly overwhelmed its neighbor's forces and drove deep into Georgia, raising fears that of a long-term Russian occupation.

Russia views the growing relationship between the U.S. and Georgia as an encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence. The fighting came amid U.S. efforts to close a deal on a missile shield based in former Soviet satellites in Europe.

By Associated Press writer Christopher Torchia. The AP's David Nowak, Steve Gutterman and Jill Lawless in Moscow, Michael Fischer and Matti Friedman in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Deb Riechmann in Crawford, Texas contributed to this report.

[ramos937]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Georgia could "forget about" getting the two regions back. On Saturday, he said that Russia will boost its peacekeeping force in South Ossetia and will not withdraw its other troops until further security measures are taken.
----------------------------------------
Russia is keeping the two regions because it can. No amount of rhetoric can change that. Unless, a superior military force can change things, those two regions are now Russian.

[hypnotoad72]

Pull in, pull out... anyone hear the song "Pump" lately? :D

[bob5ford]

We, the US and NATO are almost in Russia''s back yard. How would we feel if they were in ours?
What we need to start doing is worrying about South America. Bolivia and Venezuela both have socialist governments that are popular at the moment. As soon as they start to have problems they will blame the US. Venezuela has already invited the Russians to base military aircraft there. The next real threat we face will not be far away across an ocean but in our own back yard. And it won%u2019t play out on the evening news, it will play out in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California and possibly Florida if Cuba becomes involved, with a real shooting war. With our military tied up overseas where they don%u2019t belong it will be up to the militia to fight this war. Sound surreal? It may be real, sooner then you think!! We pushed Russia out of Cuba once, we should know how they feel about the US in Georgia.

[catalink-2009]

An interesting take from Steve Levine: with Russia''s pullout, "a new, probably far more important stage of the Georgian crisis will begin." Levine knows what he''s talking about: he covered previous wars in the Caucasus (Georgia, Chechnya, Azerbaijan), Tajikistan and the Soviet-Afghan war: http://oilandglory.com/2008/08/after-georgia-day-of-reckoning-for.html

[kenammons]

georgia started this mess and with millions of americans out of work and losing their homes for bush to spend even one penny of taxpayer money on those worthless bums is an outrage against all decent americans

[youngjm0]

Russia is the largest nation in the world, it has 10 times the military that is just sitting idle, this was a cake walk and they got the whole cake to eat. Their navy was off the coast of Georgia the next day, in forse an sinking anything that didn''t turn back, their fighter jets shot down all of Georgias fighter jets, the USA ask Russia not to shot down their C-130''s and told Russia their flight plan. VODKA ANYONE!!

[youngjm0]

Russias navy is much larger than the US, their ports is full of war ships just waiting to go to war, Russia has so many tanks that they just burn the ones that breaks down, they don''t even bother to go get them.

[jmurrieta1]

The chances that Russia will NOT eventually annex Abkhazia and S. Ossetia--about 0.

What the US and "Europe" are going to do about it--about 0.

The chances that sane generals and admirals in the Pentagon would let Bush and Cheney send US military forces toe to toe with the Russkies, right on the Russian border--about 0.

Time for lots of hand wringing. But the US just doesn''t have the credibility to do so anymore.

Bush and Cheney flushed that down the toilet years ago, and all McCain can offer is angry threats.

[kenammons]

russia may very well decide that georgia needs to return to the soviet fold and take over the rest of georgia if they do its not our problem or a reason for us to get involved the president of georgia made this easy when he attacked the seperatist and started this whole thing now he wants bailed out. no way is what i say

[lewiston14]

Does Bush and Rice have a hearing problem? Stay out of other countries business. Hang in there a few more months.

[james77773]

Yep, saacka-phaacka-shvili can lie the world as much as he wants, but he has a lot of neck ties to chew on in the future.

[secundus2]

Spain (with its Basques and Catalans), Greece and a couple of other European countries saw this kind of conflict coming during the Kosovo crisis. And it is the same problem faced by the 12-14 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

When does an ethnic minority no longer give its consent to be ruled by others? The US Declaration of Independence says that the just powers of government derive from the consent of the goverened. How far do you push that principle? It is a principle often in conflict with the borders ("territorial integrity" recognized under international law.

In a few circumstances autonomy works. But no US politician and no international court has an answer that fits every situation.

[metsobitso]

The United States has the strongest military in the world and they are broke. They got just what they voted for. Now George Bush has to divert our attention to his dirty little wars as we go around the world stealing oil. Although we may be bankrupt, George Bush and Rick Channey have got fabulously wealthy. Vote for John McCain and get more of the same.

[lindh4]

I don''t understand why the Russians are not petrified at the sight of Condescending Rice. Her brutally intimidating scowls indicates she is about to drop a bomb or give birth to a roll of barbed-wire.

[drew1503]

WE HAVE NO BUSINESS being in a foreign country just as a foreign country has no business here deploying "missile shields". Does anyone here know our history any more? Our country was known for being the "gentle giant" one of our great founders once said "America does not go around the world looking for dragons to slay", we were supposed to trade with everyone yet have no alliances with anyone, but that changed in the latter part of our history. Remember the USS Liberty which has been declassified and our President allowed an attack and called back air support to help our men aboard that ship, or the Gulf of Tonkin, which has also been declassified. Read Operation Northwoods here on ABC and question the governments actions, they have already been caught lying and telling us Russia started this war and CNN got caught the other day using footage from one town to say it was Gori. We do not need WW3 based on a lie, we need to fix our home. This is the time for Americans to come together for America, not the world. We are a sovereign nation and were not supposed to get involved in the quarrels of Europe and invade innocent countries like Iraq. We the people are not bad, a group in our Government is, read the papers outside this country, the world knows it and has for a long time, we just do not want to believe it.

[oneamerican_]

It appears that the Liberals are still being led with a ring in their nose - by the neo-Soviet regime of the KGB hit-man, Vladimir Putin.

It''s laughable to watch how these Liberals embrace every despot dictator and rogue nation on the face of the planet.

So - the question is - should you trust these same liberals to choose an American president?

Not on your life!

[usdoomedus]

Though Russia says it will begin pulling back its troops from Georgia on Monday, it''s unclear how long the redeployment will take, and a Russian lawmaker has compared the situation to the U.S. presence in Iraq.

[lewiston14]

Lest see if this cuts the CBS monitor muster even if the first one said nothing bad. dont allow any political bush people on russian soil again until after the elections. They are lame ducks with nothing russia is interested in hearing.

[whitemale08]

...these are all just "pledges" the Russians are making just like Bush "pledges" to get out of Iraq.

Just yesterday they said that "not until all weapons caches (U.S. and British made weaponry) and depots are cleared out" and they also demanded "regime change" from Saakashvili or they will take with them Ossettia and Alkazijan.

[lewiston14]

If russia wanted to get rid of Saakashvili they would have do so all ready. They take hours we take years

[timdgrim]

So - the question is - should you trust these same liberals to choose an American president?

Not on your life!
Posted by OneAmerica
********
Does this mean we are going to have another fixed election?

[usdoomedus]

"Georgia will never give up a square kilometer of its territory," Saakashvili told a news conference"..."These regions are a part of Georgia and the international community has repeatedly made clear that they will remain so," said Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side. "There''s no room for debate on this matter.".. huh? are you friggin serious?..sheessh

[usdoomedus]

The U.S. doesn''t have the resources or the will to take on Russia and so whatever is coming out of the Bush White House is just more smoke and mirrors.

[whitemale08]

...and this is the same John McCain who wants to scrap the U.N. and start up a "League of Democracies".

What country with any significant economic and military strength would join us? Just look at N.A.T.O.

Europeans are like why should N.A.T.O. help with any more troops in Afganistan when you got more of your troops in Iraq bogged down defending "oil" projects instead of going after your so-called enemy Al-Quaida?

Europeans are like "we''re not suckers for the British like Republicans are". "No, no, no, we''re not that dumb".

[usdoomedus]

But freshly dug positions of Russian armor in the town of Igoeti, about 50km west of the capital Tbilisi, showed that Russia was observing the truce at the pace and scope of its choosing.

[usdoomedus]

What country with any significant economic and military strength would join us? Just look at N.A.T.O.Posted by whitemale08.. El Salvador.. Im serious!

[whitemale08]

russias biggest exports after oil- pimps and prostitutes. they won''''t be missed. mussolini liked to remove his shirt, and threaten small militaries. come to think of it, so does putin.


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Posted by tech77usa at 03:14 PM : Aug 17, 2008--

...and so does Bush and all of the Republicans, that''s what the so-called "Cold War" was about; using smaller nations as pawns to vie for power between rival banks on Wall Street and the "City of London" and Russia''s economic system.

[whitemale08]

What country with any significant economic and military strength would join us? Just look at N.A.T.O.Posted by whitemale08.. El Salvador.. Im serious!


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Posted by usdoomedus at 03:18 PM : Aug 17, 2008--

LMAO!!!

[usdoomedus]

In the United States, it seems the mainstream media fall in line frequently with their government''s spin over international events. Most of the global news networks are owned and based in the US, and therefore tend to set the news agenda....

[mick0057]

Ossetia and Abkhazia are lost to Georgia. They have been since the fall of the Sovit Union. Georgia precipitated this fiasco in a last ditch attempt to keep hold of those regions, with the hope the U.S. and the E.U. would back their play. It and we didn''t.
Saakashvili is a liar and manipulator, who has repressed opposition in his own country. He is no better than Putin. These two autonomys (Ossetia and Abkhazia) are not worth a modicum of U.S. blood or treasure.
Having said that, Georgia proper on the other hand should remain intact and democratic. To achieve that Saakashvili ought to step down and elections held to replace him with a less autocratic, and nationalistic leader. His rhetoric only excaberates the conditions and provokes the Russians to further aggression. A concesstion to the de-facto would certainly aid in defusing the situation and guarantee Georgia''s sovereignty and facilitate it''s budding democracy.
Saakashvili''s demand for the return of the breakaways to Georgian control is incendiary and unrealistic.

[whitemale08]

Saakashvili''''s demand for the return of the breakaways to Georgian control is incendiary and unrealistic.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Mick0057 at 03:27 PM : Aug 17, 2008--

Excellent post,

the only problem is that British agent Darth Cheney is sending over to Georgia right now so-called "food" aid and "blankets" but in reality the Russians like the prudent Bear that they are, are just going to wait and see if it''s more then relief.

And if one our troops get shot and killed by a Russian trooper then say "hello" to WWIII and goodbye to tiny little white rearend.

[usdoomedus]

Full list of coalition countries:

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. source: US state dept.

[whitemale08]

Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. source: US state dept.


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Posted by usdoomedus at 03:36 PM : Aug 17, 2008--

vs...Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Syria, Zimbabwe, N. Korea, Ossettia, Akhajiza, Uzbekistan, Angola, ...

In other words WWIII.

[usdoomedus]

NEW: Russia: Troops to leave "sooner or later," depending on Georgian behavior..

[james77773]

Yep, saacka-phaacka-shvili can lie the world as much as he wants, but he has a lot of neck ties to chew on in the future.

[credibility2]

Russia is thumbing its disgusting commie noses to the rest of the world. They could''ve started withdrawing, but instead are being belligerent and defiant.

[mick0057]

reply to James
Georgians and USA planned this dirty attack on Osetia for a few months for sure, with army training camps, usa advisors in Georgia and so on....Posted by james77773

Quite the contrary my friend, State Dept. sources have told reporters that Saakashvili had told them as far back as June of a timetable to regain control. His original date was mid September. I think he lost patience with the cyber attacks on his website depicting him as Hitler and some other less than flattering depictions that were hacked into his site.
But officials warned Saakashvili that Georgia was totally unprepared and inadequate militarily to take on the Russian reprisal that was almost sure to come.

[james77773]

Georgian army run away, left tanks, guns and so on, for Georgian kids to play. Russians have to prevent that.

[james77773]

Mick0057,

however, Suckashvili ordered to attack. Was he smart?

[james77773]

State Dept. sources have told reporters
------------

common, State Dept. will say anything they want, in their interest. Saakashvili has learned to lie as good as State Dept.

[underdogus34]

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned Russia%u2019s leader of serious consequences for Moscow%u2019s relations with the European Union if Russia does not comply with its cease-fire accord with Georgia.

the French are WIMPS...lol the mexicans kicked their arss!!

[underdogus34]

Russia is thumbing its disgusting commie noses to the rest of the world. They could''''ve started withdrawing, but instead are being belligerent and defiant. Posted by Credibility2 he,he have a taste of your own medicine b.astard! GO RUSSIA!!

[amazedd]

''This is an urgent matter''. As we speak, there are ''Women on the Verge'', after the ''Jocks Gone Wild''!
Why couldn''t they''ve just sat in front of their TVs and enjoyed the Olympics? Or, at least, have had the courtesy to wait until POTUS was safely far away from within reach of the Ming.

[underdogus34]

NEXT: CHINA INVADES TAIWAN!!

[rickstas]

This is what I like -- the US press in all of its fairness devotes one line in its yellow story to the most crucial fact:

"The conflict erupted after Georgia launched a massive barrage Aug. 7 to try to take control of South Ossetia."

[babooph]

Maybe this can be used to teach Bush the meaning of the phrase"mission accomplished"?

[babooph]

When will Russia learn-they should only allow "embedded" Russian journalists in -they are fully controlled & only put out the party line.

[underdogus34]

NEXT: THE US DEPORTS ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS! that sets the stage for a new trade partnership between Mexico and China!! YAIKES!!!

[mikeabc2]

Now the Russian,for sure, will deploy nuclear bombers to Cuba and Venezuela. The Russian leader already said he''d have his heavy bombers fly to Cuba for refueling. ***, it''s that Kennedy vs Soviets (ops Russian) thing all over again. "We''re eye to eye and I think the other fellow just blinked." What if he doesn''t this time - gulp!

[whitemale08]

So when Iran supposedly said he would use missels to strike Israel you take them seriously and "at their word",

but when Russia says we would "nuclear attack...100 percent", Gates says the Russians are just kidding, playing around and goofin'' off.

You "Republican Suicide Bombers" never cease to amaze me.