The West Warns Russia To "Change Course"

G-7 Countries Condemn Russia's Actions In Georgia; Putin Slams U.S. For Using Military Ships

(CBS/AP)  Western leaders warned Russia on Wednesday to "change course," hoping to keep a conflict that already threatens a key nuclear pact and could even raise U.S. chicken prices from blossoming into a new Cold War.

Moscow said it was NATO expansion and Western support for Georgia that was causing the new East-West divisions, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin lashed out at the United States for using military ships to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.

Meanwhile, Georgia slashed its embassy staff in Moscow to protest Russia's recognition of the two separatist enclaves that were the flashpoint for the five-day war between the two nations earlier this month.

The tensions have spread to the Black Sea, which Russia shares unhappily with three nations that belong to NATO and two others that desperately want to, Ukraine and Georgia. Some Ukrainians fear Moscow might set its sights on their nation next.

In moves evocative of Cold War cat-and-mouse games, a U.S. military ship carrying humanitarian aid docked at a southern Georgian port, and Russia sent a missile cruiser and two other ships to a port farther north in a show of force.

The maneuvering came a day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had said his nation was "not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War." For the two superpowers of the first Cold War, the United States and Russia, repercussions from this new conflict could be widespread.

Russia's agriculture minister said Moscow could cut poultry and pork import quotas by hundreds of thousands of tons, hitting American producers hard and thereby raising prices for American shoppers. Russia is the largest market for American poultry exports.

Russians sometimes refer to American poultry imports as "Bush's legs," a reference to the frozen chicken shipped to Russia amid economic troubles following the 1991 Soviet collapse, during George H.W. Bush's presidency.

And a key civil nuclear agreement between Moscow and Washington appears likely to be shelved until next year at the earliest.

On the diplomatic front, the West's denunciations of Russia grew louder.

Britain's top diplomat equated Moscow's offensive in Georgia with the Soviet tanks that invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring democratic reforms in 1968, and demanded Russia "change course."

"The sight of Russian tanks in a neighboring country on the 40th anniversary of the crushing of the Prague Spring has shown that the temptations of power politics remain," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

Western leaders have accused Russia of using inappropriate force when it sent tanks and troops into Georgia earlier this month. The Russian move followed a Georgian crackdown on the pro-Russian South Ossetia.

Many of the Russian forces that drove deep into Georgia after fighting broke out Aug. 7 have pulled back, but hundreds are estimated to still be manning checkpoints that Russia calls "security zones" inside Georgia proper.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a phone call to immediately fulfill the EU-brokered cease-fire by pulling all troops out of Georgia.

The Kremlin rejected Western criticism, and Tuesday even suggested the conflict could spread. It starkly warned another former Soviet republic, tiny Moldova, that aggression against a breakaway region there could provoke a military response.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused Russia of trying to redraw the borders of Georgia. His foreign minister went further, suggesting Russia had engaged in "ethnic cleansing" in South Ossetia, one of the two Georgian rebel territories.

And the seven nations that along with Russia make up the G-8 issued a statement that underlined Russia's growing estrangement from the West.

The seven - United States, Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Japan and Italy - said Russia's decision to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries violated the Georgia's territorial integrity.

Two weeks ago, officials had told The Associated Press that the G-7 were weighing whether to effectively disband what is known as the G-8 by throwing Moscow out.

Georgia's prime minister put damage from the Russian war at about $1 billion but said it did not fundamentally undermine the Georgian economy. Georgia, which has a national budget of about $3 billion, hopes for substantial Western aid to recover.

The United Nations has estimated nearly 160,000 people had to flee their homes, but hundreds have returned to Georgian cities like Gori in the past week.

In the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, boxes of aid were sorted, stacked and loaded onto trucks Wednesday for some of the tens of thousands of people still displaced by the fighting. Some boxes were stamped "USAID - from the American People."

In the Black Sea, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas, carrying 34 tons of humanitarian aid, docked in Batumi. The missile destroyer USS McFaul was there earlier this week delivering aid, and the U.S. planned to leave it in the Black Sea for now.

A spokesman for Putin, quoted by Interfax news agency, observed: "Military ships are hardly a common way to deliver such aid."

The U.S. has used military ships to deliver humanitarian aid before, including in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami.

The U.S. Embassy in Georgia had earlier said the Dallas was headed to the port city of Poti but then retracted the statement. A Georgian official said the port in Poti could have been mined by Russian forces.

Poti's port reportedly suffered heavy damage from the Russian military. In addition, Russian troops have established checkpoints on the northern approach to the city, and a U.S. ship docking there could have been seen as a direct challenge.

Meanwhile, the Russian missile cruiser Moskva and two smaller missile boats anchored at the port in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, some 180 miles north of Batumi. The Russian Navy says the ships will be involved in peacekeeping operations.

Russian Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn warned that NATO has already exhausted the number of forces it can have in the Black Sea, according to international agreements, and warned Western nations against sending more ships.

"Can NATO - which is not a state located in the Black Sea - continuously increase its group of forces and systems there? It turns out that it cannot," Nogovitsyn was quoted as saying Wednesday by Interfax.

[samsel3]

The truth is, this is all about control of oil & gas pipelines. The BTC oil pipeline in South Ossetia & the Nabucco natural gas pipeline in NW Georgia supply markets in the European Union. In November 2003 the World Bank funded the BTC pipeline to circumvent Russian pipelines supplying europe.

Shareholders in the BTC pipeline are: British Petroleum, AzBTC, Chevron, Statoil, TPAO, ENI, Total, Itochu, INPEX, ConocoPhillips & Amerada Hess.
Russia is the second largest supplier of oil & gas on the planet.

After loosing Iraqi oil to Operation Iraqi Freedom, they negotiated supplies with Iran. The Russians were not happy with Cheneys BTC pipeline or the Caspian Sea Pipelines project going through Afghanistan. This threatens their economy based on oil & gas.

Again it''s the Bush administrations lust for money in World markets for their BIG OIL buddies

[tapsettle]

I haven''t seen anything in the way of your claim that mass media claims Russia attacked Georgia. True, Georgia did fire the first shots. However, the initial claims by the Russians that thousands of people were killed by Georgian missiles has been debunked.
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Posted by rave_on3

If you truly believe that then we are far from seeing eye to eye. This was a US govt/corporate media sponsored schematic to demonise Russia, probably to keep them out of the EU. The claim that far less civillians were massacred in SOuth Ossetai originated from Georgia, and unfortunatelty one or two organisations (and idiots) ran with it.

[tapsettle]

DONT WORRY IF obama IS ELECTED HE WILL MAKE CHANGE HE WILL PULL ALL US TROOPS OUT OF EUROPE & KISS russia''''s ***...
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Posted by rhooten128

Not that you realise it, but you (synically) just suggested something that would actually help immensely.

[tbweb]

Using the same excuse as Pres. Bush for invading Iraq, Pres. Medevedev just validated the U.S. invasion of Iraq with the invasion of Georgia! I told you all Mr Medevedev was Russia`s `George Bush`, you all thought I was kidding, watch and see! Mr Medevedev is `bring em on` Part 2 Russian style! There is not difference between the excuses for invading Iraq and Georgia and in fact Mr Medevedev was going to remove the Georgian President too until G.W. starting screaming at the top of his voice! G.W. can relate to Mr Medevedev better than Mr. Putin because G.W. is looking in the mirror!

[rave_on3]

Government of USA used mass media to make you believe, that Russia attacks Georgia.

Posted by De_Adarius at 12:58 PM : Aug 28, 2008

I haven''t seen anything in the way of your claim that mass media claims Russia attacked Georgia. True, Georgia did fire the first shots. However, the initial claims by the Russians that thousands of people were killed by Georgian missiles has been debunked. Not by a news source but by Amnesty International which claims both sides have behaved badly. Also, they contend Russia was overly aggressive and promoted ethnic cleansing in S. Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The truth is, Russia has been goading and provoking Georgia for some time now in order to to look for an excuse to invade.

Contrary to what many armchair pundits surmise, the west, and to a stronger degree, the Europeans warned against reacting to the provocations of the Russians. Unfortanately, Saakashvili''s brash decision to engage the Russians was an extremely poor one.

[de_adarius]

I just can''t believe, that People of USA is so stupid. Don''t you understand, that your goverment and mass media nurses you just a one big bull-***. USA and other "democratic" are not truethly democratic. Goverment of USA think only about their interests, they doesn''t care, that in South Osetia died many civilians, children and oldmans because agression of Saakashvili. Government of USA used mass media to make you believe, that Russia attacks Georgia. After thar, anybody can speaks about democracy in USA? YOU ALL JUST A HERD OF STUPID SHEEPS!!! OPEN YOUR EYES AND BECOME HUMANS!

About European countries and other USA''s toadyes I don''t want to say anything. Everybody cowers in fear and doesn''t have any own opinion.

PS: It was in 1945 and it will be again. Russia will kick *** of bad men:)

PSS: I believe, that somedays, russians, americans and others will be one big country named Earth. And G. Buch, C. Rise, Saakashvili and other criminals will be in jail.

PSSS: Sorry for my English.

[rave_on3]

Cossacks have been through so much oppression from Soviet Regime, but when will it happen that you understand that Russia is not communist.


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

Posted by dimhumb at 08:08 AM : Aug 28, 2008

I never claimed that Russia is or claims to be communist. Maybe socialist but to a lesser degree than even some western European countries. There''s a huge difference between the two. Russia came to it''s senses and realized communism simply doesn''t work. The Chinese have come to that same realization.

The minor point I was trying to make is that there is no room for dissent in Russian politics and even percieved threats are quashed. At least in America we are afforded the opportunity to openly disagree with our leadership and change course if warranted. In Russia, there is no room for political opposition to the ruling party...at least to the degree that''s apparant in multi-party systems.

Russian transgressions (and I believe that word to be apt) are a related topic we could delve into also.

[dimhumb]

I want to thank everyone of the commentors who being of American or English descent (what means having strong character and will) showed tolerence and tact, displayed thoughtfulness and reserve in their attitude toward the situation with Russia-the West tensions, who haven''t made Russia a deamon but tried to see the situation from all points of view. I am not afraid, personally, to admit that I am concerned of the prospects of our future.
Dmitry

[swwils]

Katie Bar the Door! We are about too kick some big a.s.s.,and they are over due.The U.S.,and our allies can take Iran,and Russia,which we are already in in shoulder deep,so end it now why we have the capabilities and the target''s in our cross hair''s.Waiting too long will allow Iran to get their grubby little hands on a nuke.They will try to fire it into Israel.Russia wanted control of Georgia because it borders that small country albezaina(or how ever you spell it)that way they can pass that uranium to Iran directly.We must move now,and quit worrying about the next President or we will be speaking Russian,or Iranian before we realize what happened.It could happen just like Hollywood''s"Red Dawn"our hands are all tide up in Iraq,and Afghanistan,and Pakistan.

[tangula-2009]

To have a great country change course by words is funny, especially the demand is made by a county that is far away and will not have any direct consequences if any conflicts do happen. The Russians%u2019 sphere of influence has to be respected. It%u2019s common knowledge that if any animal is approached to close, you certainly invite to be attacked. Now the Russians have little room to retreat, but the west has a lot room to make compromise. Why the Russians should be pressed?

[underdogus87]

Other Russian lies have also been debunked. The most egregious was Moscow%u2019s absurd claim on the eve of the invasion that Georgia was committing genocide in South Ossetia, with 2,000 civilian deaths. A week later, Moscow admitted that only 133 people had died. The writer is president of Georgia

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
"only 133 people died"? shesssh

[underdogus87]

Meanwhile ignoring Russia%u2019s warnings, western countries rushed to recognise Kosovo%u2019s illegal declaration of independence from Serbia. We argued consistently that it would be impossible after that to tell the Abkhazians and Ossetians (and dozens of other groups around the world) that what was good for the Kosovo Albanians was not good for them. In international relations, you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others.

[underdogus87]

The newly independent Georgia inflicted a vicious war on its minority nations, displacing thousands of people and sowing seeds of discontent that could only grow. These were tinderboxes, right on Russia%u2019s doorstep, which Russian peacekeepers strove to keep from igniting.

But the west, ignoring the delicacy of the situation, unwittingly (or wittingly) fed the hopes of the South Ossetians and Abkhazians for freedom. They clasped to their bosom a Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, whose first move was to crush the autonomy of another region, Adjaria, and made no secret of his intention to squash the Ossetians and Abkhazians.

[dimhumb]

DONT WORRY IF obama IS ELECTED HE WILL MAKE CHANGE HE WILL PULL ALL US TROOPS OUT OF EUROPE & KISS russia''''s ***...
Posted by rhooten128 at 08:16 AM : Aug 28, 2008

But now all the world should, it seems, to kiss America''s. Some think they kiss it properly but I doubt their method lives up to the standard. Those who may do whatever they want are apt to be extremely fancy on that. Gosh, I started taking it all seriously. Guys I meant your government, of course.

[underdogus87]

Mr Medevedev claimed yesterday the American ships were supplying arms to Georgia. Raising the possibility of a naval confrontation, he ordered the Russian cruiser "Moskva" and two missile boats to deploy off the coastal city of Sukhumi in breakaway Abkhazia.

This summoned memories of the first confrontation of the Cold War when the USS Missouri was deployed in the Black Sea in 1946 to deter Russian threats against Turkey.

[rhooten128]

DONT WORRY IF obama IS ELECTED HE WILL MAKE CHANGE HE WILL PULL ALL US TROOPS OUT OF EUROPE & KISS russia''s ***...

[underdogus87]

rave_on3...MISS jamesm12341is a 19yr old girl...one of them "whatever" kinda girls,you know what I mean? rave?

Medvedev had said his nation was "not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War." --

America should pay about as much attention to the Russian blowhards as the dog pays to the protests of a fire hydrant.

[dimhumb]

At least the Russians are taking account for something! I mean come on! Genocide and ethnic cleansing. They can claim about the same level of moral high ground the U.S. can...about 3 feet below sea level.
Posted by rave_on3 at 07:24 AM : Aug 28, 2008

I am not going to revive the case of Indeans or call Germans fascists because that''s all just far memory and nothing more, is it not? Why should I be called communist if I am of Cossack''s descent personally. Cossacks have been through so much oppression from Soviet Regime, but when will it happen that you understand that Russia is not communist.

[underdogus87]

USA to evacuate disgraced Georgian president in case of national coup