Abkhazia

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EU Report: Georgia Started War
 EU Report: Georgia Started War 

EU Report: Georgia Started War

But Russia broke international law, militia committed genocide

(Newser) - Georgia was responsible for triggering last summer’s war with Russia, a European Union investigation has concluded. But Russia was far from blameless, laying the foundation for the war and breaking international law by invading. The report, which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, also accuses Russian-backed South Ossetian...

Chávez in Russia for Military Spending Spree

Venezuela recognizes breakaway republics ahead of arms deal talks

(Newser) - Hugo Chávez arrived in Moscow today, where the Venezuelan president is reportedly ready for an arms "shopping spree." Chávez is ready to buy at least 100 tanks for $500 million, reports the Times of London, and a Kremlin aide said Venezuela may get loans for helicopters,...

Blogger Blames Kremlin for Twitter Meltdown

(Newser) - The Georgian blogger who was taken offline in the cyberattack that shut down Twitter on Thursday believes Moscow is the culprit, he tells the Guardian. The economics professor, who goes by the online name Cyxymu, says he believes Russian authorities targeted him with the denial-of-service attack because of his persistent...

Russian Veto Forces UN Out of Abkhazia

Mission in breakaway Georgian republic ends after vote deadlocks

(Newser) - Russia today vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to keep troops and observers in Abkhazia, one of the two breakaway Georgian regions in last year's war. Western nations say that Abkhazia remains part of Georgia, but Russia has recognized its independence. The veto means that the UN will have to...

Russian Army Leaves Georgian Buffer Zones

Troops will stay in breakaway regions; EU forces to remain

(Newser) - Russian troops have withdrawn from the “buffer zones” that separate the secessionist republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia ahead of Friday's deadline, the BBC reports. Though Russia plans to keep 7,600 troops inside the breakaway republics themselves, the move "paves the way...

EU Snubs Talks on New Russia Pact

Retaliation for invasion of Georgia

(Newser) - Europe has backed out of talks on a new partnership agreement with Russia in the wake of the invasion of Georgia, the BBC reports.  The decision followed an emergency European summit in Brussels. The commission president said Europe could not continue with negotiations "as if nothing had happened....

Georgia Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Moscow

Nation withdraws embassy staff from 'aggressor nation'

(Newser) - Georgia pulled its diplomats from Moscow today, charging that it cannot engage in diplomacy with an “aggressor country,” the AP reports. A spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the Georgians’ cutting of diplomatic ties would not benefit relations between the two countries. Russian troops remain in Georgia,...

Russia Will Absorb South Ossetia 'in Several Years'

'Separatist regimes ... cut off from reality,' Georgian official fires back

(Newser) - Russia intends to absorb Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia “in several years” or perhaps sooner, the speaker of the region’s parliament tells AP. In meetings this week in Moscow between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, the intent was “firmly stated...

Putin: US Sparked Georgia War
 Putin: US Sparked Georgia War

Putin: US Sparked Georgia War

Part of plot to win votes for McCain, he claims

(Newser) - Invoking the era of Cold War conspiracies, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the US of sparking conflict in Georgia to give John McCain a campaign boost. “They need a small victorious war,” the told CNN. He insisted the US encouraged Georgia to attack their two breakaway...

Seeing Red Over Russia, US May Cozy Up to China
Seeing Red Over Russia, US May Cozy Up to China
OPINION

Seeing Red Over Russia, US May Cozy Up to China

Beijing may draw closer to DC: FT

(Newser) - Moscow may physically stand in between Beijing and Washington, but Russia’s aggressive behavior could bring the US and China closer together, Geoff Dyer argues in the Financial Times. The Kremlin’s interference in Georgia has Washington seething, and “a low-level confrontation in Georgia that pits Russia against the...

Medvedev: Why I Recognized 2 Provinces
Medvedev: Why
I Recognized
2 Provinces
OPINION

Medvedev: Why I Recognized 2 Provinces

Georgia's 'madman' forced us to act, writes Russian president

(Newser) - Yesterday Russia recognized the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states—a move that Dmitry Medvedev calls "a heavy decision." Writing in the Financial Times, the Russian president says that independence for the two breakaway regions, which have suffered under Georgia's "vicious war on...

West to Put Screws to Russia
 West to Put Screws to Russia

West to Put Screws to Russia

New fury at Russia's formal recognition of breakaway states

(Newser) - The West is preparing to crank up diplomatic pressure on Russia after its challenging move formally recognizing breakaway Ossetia and Abkhazia in the wake of its invasion of Georgia. The US, Europe and NATO have condemned the action, but Russia remains defiant. "We are not afraid of anything, including...

Russia Recognizes Georgia's Breakaway Regions

Thumbs nose at West's pleas

(Newser) - Thumbing its nose at the West, Russia has officially recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Dmitry Medvedev announced today, following votes in the Russian parliament. The move flies in the face of a plea from President Bush that Russia refrain from doing so, and the US State Department’...

US Aid Ship Arrives in Georgia
 US Aid Ship Arrives in Georgia

US Aid Ship Arrives in Georgia

(Newser) - A US Navy warship carrying humanitarian aid anchored at the Georgian port of Batumi today, sending a strong signal of support to an embattled ally as Russian forces built up around two separatist regions. But a top Russian general suggested that the presence of US and other NATO ships in...

Russia's 'Buffer Zone' Includes Georgia Territory

Moscow moves closer to recognizing breakaway enclaves

(Newser) - Russia may soon officially recognize the sovereignty of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, lawmakers said today, even as the military moved to establish so-called buffer zones that include Georgian territory, the Wall Street Journal reports. Then-president Vladimir Putin used the move to recognize the secessionist republics to criticize countries which did...

Georgia Is the Victim, So Blame Russia
 Georgia Is the Victim, 
 So Blame Russia

opinion

Georgia Is the Victim, So Blame Russia

History reveals Russia as the aggressor

(Newser) - Why blame Georgia for Russia's invasion when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is clearly at fault? Putin has been seething ever since pro-Western Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in Georgia 3 years ago, writes Matthew Continetti in The Weekly Standard. "Putin has been pressuring Georgia for years," writes...

Saakashvili: West Must Stop Russia Brutality
Saakashvili: West Must Stop Russia Brutality
OPINION

Saakashvili: West Must Stop Russia Brutality

Moscow seeks 'new world order,' warns Georgian president

(Newser) - As Russia maintains a troop presence in several Georgian cities, Mikheil Saakashvili writes in the Washington Post, "We cannot allow Georgia to become the first victim of a new world order as imagined by Moscow." The Georgian president says the international community must recognize that Russia intends to...

Russian Troops Remain in Georgia

Medvedev backs seperatist regions

(Newser) - Russian troops are still occupying the Georgian city of Gori, and other cities beyond the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions, as President Dmitri Medvedev declared today that his nation will stand behind the breakaway regions’ independence bids, CNN reports. Russia says will keep tanks in Gori for up to 3...

How the West's Mistakes Stoked War in Georgia
How the West's Mistakes Stoked War in Georgia
OPINION

How the West's Mistakes Stoked War in Georgia

Diplomatic laziness increased the likelihood of conflict

(Newser) - With the conflict between Georgia and Russia cooling and a truce in progress, it’s time for the West to appreciate its role in the conflict, writes Ronald D. Asmus for the New Republic.
  • From the early '90s, the West accepted the Russians as peacekeepers in the secession dispute. While
...

Russians, Looters Advance on Georgia

Reports suggest seige of Gori, despite ceasefire agreement

(Newser) - Georgians claimed that Russian tanks advanced from South Ossetia into the city of Gori today, despite a ceasefire brokered by the EU yesterday. Villages were being burned and looted, eyewitnesses told the Guardian. Though the Russian army denied any advance,  tanks appeared to be targeting Georgian military sites, followed...

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