Russia Blocks UN Effort to End Georgia War

Moscow refuses call to withdraw troops to pre-conflict lines
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 20, 2008 8:23 AM CDT
Russia Blocks UN Effort to End Georgia War
The United Nations Security Council holds emergency consultations on the conflict between Russia and Georgia after France requested discussion of a new draft plan to end the hostilities, August 19.   (AP Photo/David Karp)

Russia has rejected a draft Security Council resolution seeking to end the violence in Georgia, reports the BBC, by rejecting the UN body's call to return to its pre-conflict positions. Russia, which wants to keep its troops inside South Ossetia, said that the clause contradicts last week's ceasefire. Moscow holds a permanent veto.

The French government, which brokered the ceasefire, also drafted the UN resolution. But Russia's ambassador made several objections, particularly with regards to the two breakaway provinces at the heart of the conflict. Yesterday at an emergency NATO summit Condoleezza Rice warned that Russia risked becoming an "outlaw" state, while a Kremlin spokesman accused NATO of bias in favor of the "criminal regime" in Georgia. (More United Nations stories.)

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