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US faults Russia for rising violence in Georgia
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-10 12:21 US President Bush, in Beijing for the Olympics, spoke with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday. "The violence is endangering regional peace, civilian lives have been lost and others are endangered. We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for an end to the Russian bombings," Bush told reporters. He did not take any questions. US
The US official suggested Russia was looking for a way to draw Georgia into a conflict because Moscow wants to keep Georgia out of NATO. Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia angered Russia by seeking NATO membership. However, he said the United States and its NATO allies will not be drawn militarily into the Russian-Georgian conflict. "This is a very localized conflict ... There is not a danger of a regional conflict at all in our minds," the official said. Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq and is the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the US and Britain. The Georgian government has called home those troops, and efforts are under way now to determine how the US will transport those troops to Georgia, the official said. |
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