Georgia/Russia news: 03 SEP 2008
NOTE: This is an informational compilation. GMF does not endorse, either explicitly or implicitly, the content contained herein.
NEWS
Ukraine’s coalition turns on itself
Financial Times (UK), Roman Olearchyk, 03 Sep 2008
Summary: “Ukraine’s pro-western coalition descended into chaos on Wednesday even as western leaders sought to demonstrate their support for Kiev following Russia’s intervention in Georgia… Fresh political turmoil is unlikely to help Kiev’s bid for speedy integration with the EU and Nato. Kiev hopes to conclude an agreement on closer integration with the EU at a summit in Evian, France, on September 9. Ukraine’s president also hopes Nato will grant his country a Membership Action Plan in December, a move that would kick start membership preparations.”
Ukrain’s Presidential Party Quits Ruling Coalition
RIA Novosti (RUS), 03 Sep 2008
Summary: Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s party officially pulled out of the ruling pro-Western coalition on Wednesday amid a government dispute over presidential powers and the Georgia-Russia conflict.
Russia to Close Markets for Neighboring WTO Member
Kommersant (RUS), 03 Sep 2008
Summary: Ukraine is a new target of Russia’s war with the WTO. First Vice Premier Igor Shuvalov yesterday committed to protect Russia’s economy against goods supplied by Ukraine, a member of WTO. Sources say the conditions for free trade with Ukraine will be either abolished or toughened, and the sugar market of Russia will open until January 1, 2009.
Russia President Dismisses Georgia’s Leader as a ‘Political Corpse’
New York Times (U.S.), Ellen Barry, 02 Aug 2008
Summary: “President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia said Tuesday that he no longer recognized Mikheil Saakashvili as the president of Georgia, calling him “a political corpse” in his most lacerating words to date about a government Moscow wants to force from power… Mr. Putin, in Uzbekistan, announced an agreement to build a new natural gas pipeline to Russia from Central Asia, frustrating European and American efforts to ship oil and gas directly to the West.”
Russia closes Georgia embassy, freezes visas
Associated Press, Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili, 03 Aug 2008
Summary: “Russia closed its embassy in Georgia and halted consular operations after Georgia severed diplomatic ties following last month’s war, the Russian consul said Wednesday.”
Cheney to Take Aim at Russia’s Gas Clout
Wall Street Journal (U.S.), Guy Chazan and John McKinnon, 03 Aug 2008
Summary: “Vice President Dick Cheney will use his trip to the Caucasus this week to try to loosen Russia’s grip on Caspian and Central Asian oil and gas exports. But he may be too late. Mr. Cheney’s objective is to express U.S. backing for an export route that crosses the Caucasus, bypassing Russia.”
Georgia Eager to Rebuild Its Defeated Armed Forces
New York Times (U.S.), C. J. Chivers and Thom Shanker, 02 Aug 2008
Summary: “Just weeks after Georgia’s military collapsed in panic in the face of the Russian Army, its leaders hope to rebuild and train its armed forces as if another war with Russia is almost inevitable… Officials at the Pentagon, State Department and White House confirmed that the Bush administration was examining what would be required to rebuild Georgia’s military, but stressed that no decisions had been made. The choices each pose difficult foreign policy questions.”
Nato urged to bolster Baltic defence
Financial Times (UK), James Blitz, 02 Sep 2008
Summary: “The US called on Nato on Tuesday to be better prepared to defend the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – from military attack, after Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia… In Brussels, Mr Volker said Nato was firmly committed to defending the Baltic states from attack because, unlike Georgia, they were signatories to the alliance’s Article 5, which guarantees defence of one ally by all the rest.”
Russia says Washington fanning Georgia instability
Reuters, Tabassum Zakaria and Guy Faulconbridge, 03 Aug 2008
Summary: “Russia accused the United States of stirring up instability in Georgia on Wednesday, hours after U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney landed in the region to show support for Washington’s ex-Soviet allies.”
Georgia Pulled Out of Agreements on Ossetian Conflict Settlement
Kommersant (RUS), 03 Sep 2008
Summary: Georgia has unilaterally pulled out of agreements on settlement of the conflict in South Ossetia, News Georgia reported.
Lavrov Denies Singling Out Turkey
The MoscowTimes (RUS), Murad Sezer, 03 Sep 2008
Summary: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Tuesday that strict new import measures were not aimed at punishing NATO-member Turkey for allowing U.S. warships to steam through its waters to deliver aid to Georgia.
COMMENTARY
The Market Will Punish Putinism
Wall Street Journal, Judy Shelton, 03 Aug 2008
Summary: “But even as Russian tanks assert a physical claim on Georgian territory, Moscow is already feeling the consequences in fiscal terms. Foreign investment capital — the lifeblood of Russian equity and credit markets — is draining out as the world recoils. Group of Seven leaders should take particular note of this spontaneous market phenomenon — and also take heart. Because no matter what sanctions the European Union might choose to impose, no matter how severely the world’s leading industrialized nations jointly condemn their “fellow G-8 member” — nothing will punish Russia more than to watch the dream dissolve yet again.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), Günther Nonnenmacher, 03 Sep 2008
Summary: Günther Nonnenmacher argues that although the EU did not decide to impose sanctions, it clearly signaled to Moscow that its relations with Russia have come to a crossroads. Still, it depends on whether or not Moscow is coming to the conclusion that its actions in the Caucasus will in the end hurt its own interest. For it could be, Nonnemacher writes, that “the leadership in Moscow has already decided to pursue its new great power policies to re-establish old spheres of influence despite the possible consequences – for example in Transnistria or the Crimea.”
Chopping cilantro in Tbilisi the night the war began
International Herald Tribune (U.S.), Stephanie Gruner, 02 Sep 2008
Summary: An American reporter reflects upon her reaction to military developments in South Ossetia. “So the night the war began, we sat down to dinner with friends on our porch…Over dessert things calmed down. My husband scooped up our friends’ 3-year-old son and carried him off to race across the lawn, and I sensed my daughter roll over in my belly. Our guests seemed content. There we sat, looking out over the flowers and herbs and fruit trees in our walled-in garden.”
Slate (U.S.), Victoria Floethe, 02 Sep 2008
Summary: “These days, the news from Georgia is all bombing campaigns and Russian occupation, but for an odd and magical week in the summer of 2006, I was part of Mikheil Saakashvili’s great and tragic fantasy of an independent, America-loving Georgia.”
POLICY INSTITUTE ANALYSIS
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Nikolai Petrov, 02 Sep 2008
Summary: “The open hostilities of the Georgian war have settled down, but the war of interpretations is still being fought. The patriotic rhetoric continues against a backdrop of inflammatory and confrontational statements by government leaders. Politicians and analysts claim that no harm will come to the country’s international reputation, that the furor in the West will die down and everything will return to normal relations. But this naive optimism is both groundless and foolish.”