"The ceasefire must be verifiable and durable," German government sources said in Berlin on Saturday, Aug.
16, ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's trip to Tbilisi to meet President Mikheil Saakashvili on Sunday, DPA news agency reported.
They said Merkel would press for a complete cessation to all hostilities during the visit which comes two days after the chancellor met Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Merkel is also reported to be pushing for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the crisis region of South Ossetia.
Russia
signs ceasefire
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Russian soldiers in the Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia on Friday Medvedev meanwhile signed the Russia, Georgia trade accusations amid fighting ...
Russian Hospitals Brace for New Influx of Casualties ...
Rice in Georgia amid growing tensions with Russia ...
EU to include aviation in "Emission Trading Scheme" ...
Rice wraps up China visit with trip to earthquake zone ...
Germany Ready for Faceoff With Austria, Says Coach Loew ... six-point plan mediated by the European Union earlier Saturday in Moscow. Saakashvili signed the document in Tbilisi on Friday in the presence of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The agreement is not a peace settlement but provides the basis for a legally binding text to end the fighting and pave the way for a political solution. The United Nations Security Council is to formalize the six principles of the ceasefire.
One of the key points is the withdrawal of Russian armed forces to positions held before hostilities began in South Ossetia.
Other points include renouncing violence, cessation of hostilities, granting access to humanitarian aid, the return of Georgian armed forces to their usual quarters and the opening of international discussions on the future status of the rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The framework plan falls short of the original proposal by the EU presidency. The draft had called for the "full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia" and the deployment of a EU or UN monitoring mission.
Differences remain
Despite the signing of the agreement by Georgia and Russia, the two sides are still engaged in a verbal war.
After meeting Merkel, Medvedev made plain that Russia would respond "in the same way" if it felt provoked again, while Merkel said she found the Russian response "in some aspects disproportionate."
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Saakashvili says the Russians want him out Speaking in Washington, US President George W Bush accused Russia of "bullying" behavior in sending armored units into Georgia and bombing Georgian targets from the air.
In an interview with the German weekly
Der Spiegel published Saturday, Saakashvili said Moscow was determined to see his government toppled.
Russian leaders had told both Sarkozy and Rice that "there will be no agreement on resolving the conflict without my resignation," Saakashvili said.
He accused Russia of using the Georgian military action in breakaway South Ossetia as a pretext to march into the region.
"South Ossetia is not the issue for Russia," he said. "Moscow wants to take over all of Georgia."
Ukraine
offers West cooperation
Officials at neighboring Ukraine's foreign ministry on Saturday reportedly offered to open their missile defense network to cooperation with European and other foreign powers.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (left) and Merkel met in July Ukraine's foreign ministry said Kiev could invite European partners to integrate their early warning systems against missile attacks. Ukraine is also ready to deal with "foreign countries interested in getting information about the situation in space," the ministry's statement said, according to AFP news angency.
Ministry officials said that the demise of a bilateral Russian-Ukrainian defense agreement earlier this year "allows Ukraine to establish active cooperation with European countries." Russia's parliament voted to withdraw from a bilateral missile radar accord in January in response to Ukraine's application for membership in the NATO military alliance.
Ukraine has backed Georgia in the current crisis.
The offer comes shortly after Poland agreed to host elements of a US missile defense shield which Moscow describes as a threat to its national security.
German-Georgians abducted?
The German foreign ministry on Saturday confirmed a news report that two men with German passports might have been abducted in the Georgian town of Gori, which is still occupied by Russian forces.
According to reports, hundreds of people were abducted by militia into Georgia's breakaway province South Ossetia after most of the fighting had ended earlier in the week.
(Deutsche Welle)
more info >>
<< Back