Russia has rejected a draft UN Security Council resolution on Georgia, saying it contradicted the terms of last week's ceasefire deal. The draft text called on Russia to pull back its forces to the positions held before the current conflict. But Russia says the truce allows its troops to stay in a buffer zone on the Georgia side of South Ossetia's border. Moscow earlier dismissed a Nato warning that normal relations were impossible while its troops remained in Georgia.
The conflict broke out on 7 August when Georgia launched an assault to wrest back control of the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia, triggering a counter-offensive by Russian troops who advanced beyond South Ossetia into Georgia's heartland. Georgia says its action was in response to continuous provocation. Russia's UN ambassador said the French-drafted UN resolution went against the terms of the ceasefire brokered by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. Vitaly Churkin said the resolution should incorporate all elements of the six-point peace plan agreed last week. He also objected to language in the draft reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity, saying South Ossetia and Abkhazia did not want to be part of Georgia. Following a rebuke from Nato's 26 foreign ministers in Brussels, Moscow accused Nato of bias in favour of the "criminal regime" in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The U.S. has rejected this claims.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia risked becoming the "outlaw" of the conflict, in an interview with CBS news on the sidelines of the Nato emergency summit. Russia says President Dmitry Medvedev told President Sarkozy that by Friday, Russian troops would either be sent home, be pulled back to South Ossetia or to a buffer zone along the border. Russia said it had begun a pullback on Tuesday as it withdrew 11 military vehicles from the Georgian town of Gori. A Russian officer told reporters invited to watch that the column was heading for South Ossetia and then home to Russia, but Georgia dismissed it all as a show. [End on report]
On this issue, I have to say that I am Russia's side. The truth is, it was Georgia who started all this in the first place, and Russia was only responding to the aide that the people living in South Ossetia needed. In my opinion, Georgia was the aggressor while Russia was only doing what is right in the situation, which is to protect its people living in South Ossetia. Therefore, I find it strange that NATO is supporting Georgia more than it does to Russia. I think that the Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili had a plan before he went to attack the separatists in South Ossetia. He obviously knew that any form of attack against any territory that has the support of Russia will definitely cause the Russians to take some actions as we have seen in the crisis. He knows that the Russia forces are far more superior than the Georgian forces, so I dont see the reason why he would be foolish enough to ruffle Russian feathers. Nevertheless, I think he got what he wanted which was a strong respond from Russia. Therefore it was much more easier for Saakashvili to put all the blame on Russia and gave the impression that they were the bad guys and that they had a bigger thing that they wish to gain from the current crisis, which is to take control of Georgia once again. That I think is not true.
Another thing that I found amusing is that America is complaining about Russia for invading Georgia, when they had some good reasons to do so. When America invaded Iraq a few years ago, the world didnt do much to stop it and Russia did not complain too much either. If you know well, you should know that I strongly believe that the war in Iraq was justified but at that time, there was not much evidence to support the attack in Iraq, whereas in Georgia, the Russian has a strong reason to do what it is doing so I dont think it is right for the Americans to complain bout Russian aggression in Georgia. That is also why I find that the NATO draft is biased. Almost all the member countries in the organisation is supporting Georgia, which is in my mind the cause of the current crisis, and totally left out the concerns on the part of Russia. Im not so sure what is the details of the ceasefire deal because according to some report, Russia had agreed to pull almost all troops from Georgia by the weekend and I have also heard contrasting report on the issue. Russia President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed that all but 500 Russian troops needed for "additional security measures" would be pulled out of the former Soviet republic by Friday but according to the sources in Georgia, there has not been any major movements or sign of withdrawal which is why NATO is unhappy about.
The good thing about it is that the fighting between both sides have eased a little bit over the past few days or so but both sides are accusing each other for not abiding to the ceasefire deal. I dont know who is saying the truth or who is lying but my support would still be on Russia on this issue. I think they are being wrongly blame for most of the things that they are not responsible for. Just like everybody else, I would like to see a peaceful resolution on the matter but I dont think that will happen anytime soon.
*The report was taken from BBC.
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