Georgia/Russia

Russia warns pullout could be slow

Article published on the 2008-08-19 Latest update 2008-08-20 09:44 TU

Russian military vehicles drive towards Tskhinvali on August 17
(Photo: Reuters)

As Nato foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss ways to pressure Moscow to adhere to a French-brokered cease-fire, Russia has warned Georgia that its pullout of troops from the country may be slower than expected. Although Russia maintains it is beginning a gradual troop pullout, a complete withdrawal would depend on the actions of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

"Nobody is planning to withdraw the Russian contingent very swiftly, as there is no such necessity," a Russian defence ministry official told Russian daily Kommersant.

However, in what is seen as a mutal conciliatory move, the two countries exchanged prisoners on Tuesday.

US officials claim that Russian promises have already been broken, saying that they are adding troops and equipment, including moving  short-range SS-21 missile launchers into South Ossetia.

Russia's Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, denied the US claims. He also told French public radio station, France Inter that Russian peacekeepers would remain in South Ossetia, the secessionist territory where the conflict began on August 8. Russia launched a counter-attack two days after a Georgian assault on the Moscow-backed separatists there.

Rogozin accused pro-Western Georgia of trying to drive a wedge in between Russia and the West. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that Russia has a "strategic objective" of preventing NATO's expansion. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been pushing for Georgia's entry into NATO, a move openly supported this week by German Premier Angela Merkel and Rice.

Supplies continue to arrive to assist about one hundred and thirty thousand estimated displaced people. Five more military flights laden with supplies were dispatched to Georgia from the US on Monday. United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations on Monday appealed for 40 million euros to provide relief aid for the civilians affected by the conflict in Georgia.