RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Aug 14, 2008
TODAY: Russian troops move into Gori; UN may approve peace proposal by end of week; Russia will not recognize Georgia’s territorial integrity; war of words rages on; HRW questions Russia’s death toll; White House struggling to find means of retaliation; Yushchenko moves to restrict Russian warships. Despite all news suggesting the contrary, including President Dmitry Medvedev’s announcing of the end of military operations in Georgia on Tuesday, Russia’s troop withdrawal from the strategic city of Gori has appeared to collapse, with explosions being heard there today. The French-drafted Security Council proposal to end hostilities between Georgia and Russia may be approved by the UN Security Council before the end of the week. A text of the agreement has been published by the New York Times. Russia has declined to acknowledge Georgian sovereignty over all of its recognised territory and refused to have any reference to it in the peace proposal. The war of words between Russia and Georgia continues. Deputy Russian Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has compared Georgia’s initial move for South Ossetia with 9/11, implicitly comparing its response with the US invasion of Afghanistan. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili writes in today’s Washington Post. “Georgia’s only fault in this crisis is its wish to be an independent, free and democratic country.” Elsewhere Saakashvili has resorted to “increasingly fiery language”. Human Rights Watch has called Russia’s use of the word genocide in reference to the conflict “irresponsible”, and questioned the accuracy of its South Ossetian death toll.