Western allies of Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili upped the pressure on Russia to start the promised pullout of combat troops from Georgia on Monday, Aug.
18. Moscow's plan to retain Russian "peacekeepers" in the embattled Caucasus provinces sparked new tension in Russia's relations with the European Union and United States.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured Saakashvili in Tbilisi that NATO remained ready to give membership to the ex-Soviet republic, as promised at a NATO summit in April, despite the conflict with Russia.
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Firefighters Fight Blaze at Berlin Philharmonic Concert Hall ... Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: In a visit, Merkel offered Saakashvili support "Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," Merkel said on Sunday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Russia of acting in bad faith in the past. On US television she said the country's reputation was "in tatters."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, writing in the newspaper
Le Figaro , demanded Russia pull out of Georgia "immediately" and said the point was "not negotiable."
Plan to install peacekeepers is disputed
With a ceasefire holding, President Dmitry Medvedev assured Sarkozy on Sunday that Russian regular forces "from tomorrow... will begin withdrawing."
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Sarkozy says a pullout is "non-negotiable" However, new tensions gathered over Russia's longer-term military plans in the small but strategically located ex-Soviet republic. Russia plans to deploy a peacekeeping force of unspecified size that Georgian officials worry could turn into an open-ended occupation.
"There is no such notion any more in Georgia as Russian peacekeepers," Saakashvili said at a press conference with Merkel. "There can be no Russian peacekeepers -- these are just Russian forces."
Russian troops on Monday were still holding positions about 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of Tbilisi, and near the Georgian cities of Poti and Senaki on the Black Sea coast.
Rice: Russia's reputation 'in tatters'
The Georgian government has accused the Russians of acting in bad faith in the past, given a mere three kilometer retreat on Thursday.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had planned to meet Monday to discuss a plan to send 100 extra observers to Georgia, according to the body's Finnish chairman Alexander Stubb.
Rice meanwhile pressured Russia to live up to its promises under the EU-brokered ceasefire.
"Russia overreached, used disproportionate force against a small neighbor and is now paying the price," Rice told NBC television's Meet the Press. "Russia's reputation as a potential partner in international institutions, diplomatic, political, security, economic, is frankly, in tatters."
South Ossetia leader dissolves government
The ceasefire deal is meant to conclude a five-day conflict in which Russian forces drove off a Georgian army assault overnight on Aug. 7 against Moscow-backed separatists in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Russian soldiers are still in Georgia In South Ossetia itself, President Eduard Kokoity late Sunday dismissed his government and proclaimed a state of emergency in the rebel region, Russia's Vesti-24 television reported.
"I have signed three decrees including one on the resignation of the government, another on proclamation of a state of emergency in South Ossetia and the third on setting up an emergency committee to settle the consequences of the Georgian aggression," Kokoity told the channel.
Conflicting information on Russian troops
In Gori, a Russian-occupied town beyond South Ossetia, the commanding general said a switch from regular troops had already begun.
"The Russian troops are starting to pull out and Russian peacekeepers are coming in," Gen. Vyacheslav Borisov told AFP.
A reporter with the AFP news service reported seeing a long column of Russian vehicles, including about 25 tanks and 25 armored personnel carriers, parked outside Gori
(Deutsche Welle)
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