Berianidze
12-18-2005, 03:11 AM
Georgia’s Foreign Minister Asks U.S. for Help in Outing Russians
Created: 17.12.2005 13:09 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:09 MSK, 18 hours 42 seconds ago
MosNews
The foreign minister of Georgia has asked the United States for help in getting the Russian military out of his country. Gela Bezhuashvili visited Washington, where he met Condoleezza Rice to discuss the situation in Georgia’s restive provinces.
Gela Bezhuashvili made a round of visits Friday, his only full day in a Washington drop-in, ending with a half-hour sit-down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He was talking largely about Georgia’s two restive regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, most especially about a three-part peace plan for South Ossetia, The Associated Press reported.
“His main message was to get help with the Russians, because without that it will be basically impossible to bring the Russians on board to solve problem, and without the Russians on board it will be basically impossible to solve the problem,” said David Soumbadze, deputy chief of mission at the Georgian Embassy.
Rice and Bezhuashvili discussed Georgia’s hopes for full membership in NATO and the former Soviet republic’s energy problems — Russia, its sole supplier of natural gas, has doubled the price. They also talked about Iraq, both this week’s election and Georgia’s 850-soldier complement in the allied force. Bezhuashvili made clear, Soumbadze said, that “we will stay there as long as we are needed.”
Like Abkhazia, South Ossetia has been running its owns affairs since the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union’s demise. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has promised to bring them back into the country. He also is striving to move his country politically westward, away from the Russian orbit.
Soumbadze said the Ossetia peace plan’s first two steps _ demilitarization of the conflict zone and confidence-building measures such as economic projects financed by the central government _ can be done within a few months.
The third step, negotiations with Russia on the political future of the region, is the main sticking point. The Georgians say it could be finished by the end of 2006. Russia says the process requires a longer time, possibly years.
A 2,000-soldier peacekeeping force in Abkhazia is under the flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which comprises most of the former Soviet republics, but it is heavily Russian. In South Ossetia, a 1,500-strong force represents 500 each from security forces in Ossetia, Georgia and Russia.
Russia had four bases in Georgia, two in Abkhazia. Under a 1999 agreement, the bases outside Abkhazia have been closed. In May of this year, agreement finally was reached to close the other two in 2008.
“The Americans have been very supportive of us from the very beginning of our peace plan,” Soumbadze said. “They are talking to the Russians. We want to keep Georgia on the agenda.”
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/17/georgus.shtml
Created: 17.12.2005 13:09 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:09 MSK, 18 hours 42 seconds ago
MosNews
The foreign minister of Georgia has asked the United States for help in getting the Russian military out of his country. Gela Bezhuashvili visited Washington, where he met Condoleezza Rice to discuss the situation in Georgia’s restive provinces.
Gela Bezhuashvili made a round of visits Friday, his only full day in a Washington drop-in, ending with a half-hour sit-down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He was talking largely about Georgia’s two restive regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, most especially about a three-part peace plan for South Ossetia, The Associated Press reported.
“His main message was to get help with the Russians, because without that it will be basically impossible to bring the Russians on board to solve problem, and without the Russians on board it will be basically impossible to solve the problem,” said David Soumbadze, deputy chief of mission at the Georgian Embassy.
Rice and Bezhuashvili discussed Georgia’s hopes for full membership in NATO and the former Soviet republic’s energy problems — Russia, its sole supplier of natural gas, has doubled the price. They also talked about Iraq, both this week’s election and Georgia’s 850-soldier complement in the allied force. Bezhuashvili made clear, Soumbadze said, that “we will stay there as long as we are needed.”
Like Abkhazia, South Ossetia has been running its owns affairs since the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union’s demise. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has promised to bring them back into the country. He also is striving to move his country politically westward, away from the Russian orbit.
Soumbadze said the Ossetia peace plan’s first two steps _ demilitarization of the conflict zone and confidence-building measures such as economic projects financed by the central government _ can be done within a few months.
The third step, negotiations with Russia on the political future of the region, is the main sticking point. The Georgians say it could be finished by the end of 2006. Russia says the process requires a longer time, possibly years.
A 2,000-soldier peacekeeping force in Abkhazia is under the flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which comprises most of the former Soviet republics, but it is heavily Russian. In South Ossetia, a 1,500-strong force represents 500 each from security forces in Ossetia, Georgia and Russia.
Russia had four bases in Georgia, two in Abkhazia. Under a 1999 agreement, the bases outside Abkhazia have been closed. In May of this year, agreement finally was reached to close the other two in 2008.
“The Americans have been very supportive of us from the very beginning of our peace plan,” Soumbadze said. “They are talking to the Russians. We want to keep Georgia on the agenda.”
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/17/georgus.shtml