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Russia signs cease fire agreement with Georgia
By News Agencies
Tags: Georgia, Bush, UN, Russia

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a cease-fire agreement with Georgia on Saturday, a day after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili reluctantly signed the plan that calls for Russian troops to pull back, but that also grants them limited patrols inside Georgia.

Medvedev spokesman Alexei Pavlov said the president signed the cease-fire order Saturday, but did not give further details.

Meanwhile Saturday, U.S. President George W. Bush called for Russia to honor the agreement and withdraw its troops from Georgia.
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After meeting with his national security team, Bush said that there was progress in resolving the Georgia crisis.

He said the fact that Russia and Georgia have signed a ceasefire pact was "a hopeful step."

But he said Russia now needed to honor the agreement and withdraw its forces. He said the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are a part of Georgia and "there's no room for debate on this matter."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy also called on Russia to withdraw from all Georgian territory, in a letter sent to Saakashvili. In the letter, Sarkozy said the withdrawal must come, in spite of conditions authorizing "additional security measures" for Russian forces.

The cease-fire plan both sides have signed appears to leave some tense issues open to interpretation, including whether Georgia will be able to send troops back into parts of South Ossetia.

A few hours earlier, a group of Russian troops moved further into Georgia from positions in the Georgian city of Gori, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

According to the report, five tanks and 4 personnel carriers moved into the town of Igueti, about 35 kilometres outside the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

The activities of the group of Russian soldiers indicated that they were setting up a position in the area, the report said.

After signing the cease-fire plan on Friday, Saakashvili called the Russians barbarians who had been plotting for months to invade and occupy his country's sovereign soil.

Late on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. A U.S. official said Lavrov told Rice Russia would faithfully implement the ceasefire agreement. It wants to see Saakashvili's signature on the document first.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said Russian soldiers had blown up a key railway bridge on Saturday, cutting the country's main east-west rail link.

"At 12.20 this afternoon, Russian forces blew up a major railroad bridge near Gori," he told reporters. "That bridge being gone effectively results in the country losing east-west railway communications. For how long I do not know."

In Moscow, the General Staff strongly denied that Russian forces had blown up the bridge.

Bush: Russia's actions in Georgia 'completely unacceptable'

Bush called Russia's actions in Georgia "completely unacceptable" and said that Moscow must end the crisis.

"The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people," Bush said in his weekly Saturday radio address, which the White House released on Friday.

Bush said he would send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Brussels next week to meet with NATO foreign ministers and European Union officials.

Rice visited Tbilisi and France, which brokered a cease-fire this week, and was headed to Crawford, Texas, to meet with Bush at his ranch this weekend.

"To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the United States, Europe and other nations, and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must act to end this crisis," Bush said.

Georgian leader Saakashvili on Friday told a joint news conference with the U.S. Secretary of State that his country would never be reconciled to losing any of its territory to Russia. He also criticized the muted reaction by European nations to the build up.

Of the cease-fire agreement, Saakashvili said it was not a done deal. "We need to do our utmost to deter such behavior in the future," he explained.

He later said that Russian tanks had moved on two more towns in central Georgia, widening their "occupation."

Saakashvili's claim could not be independently verified and Russian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Saakashvili said the tanks had moved to the towns of Khashari and Borjomi southwest of South Ossetia. "We now have an increasing area of Russian occupation of our territory," Saakashvili told reporters several hours after signing the cease-fire agreement.

Rice, visiting the Georgian capital Tbilisi in efforts to secure a peace deal between the warring states, said the Russian president had also signed the pact - and that Russian troops must now withdraw from Georgia as outlined in the deal brokered earlier in the week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"Georgia has been attacked. Russian forces need to leave Georgia at once," she said calling for the immediate and orderly withdrawal of Moscow's military and all paramilitary troops that went with the convoys.

"The Russian pullout must take place - and take place now," she said, speaking at the pro-Western Georgian leader's side at a joint news conference outside his presidential palace in central Tbilisi.

Rice flew to the Georgian capital Friday to discuss the cease-fire with Saakashvili after meeting with Sarkozy in Paris, saying the immediate goal was to get Russian combat forces out of Georgia.

She warned that Russia's military action had wider implications for its relationship with the U.S. - and the West.

Rice consulted with Saakashvili about details of the cease-fire, which requires Russia to withdraw its combat forces from Georgia but allows Russian peacekeepers to remain in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.

The draft document also does not commit Russia to respecting Georgia's territorial integrity, but rather refers to Georgian independence and sovereignty, meaning Moscow does not necessarily accept that South Ossetia and the other rebel region Abkhazia, are Georgian.

Officials say the eventual status of the two areas will be worked out under existing United Nations Security Council resolutions which recognize Georgia's international borders and Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Georgian.

The U.S. and its allies had been pushing for Russia to agree to restore the situation in Georgia to the status quo ante, or how it stood before Georgian troops moved into South Ossetia last week prompting Russia's severe response and seven days of bloodshed.

Now they have been forced to back down on the key issues of the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, which did not previously include outside patrols, and the territorial integrity question, which Russia ostensibly accepted before but no longer does.

U.S. officials concede the agreement is not perfect but maintain it will get Russian combat troops out of Georgia, hopefully in a matter of days.

"It will be a major accomplishment for Georgia to get the Russians out of their country and back effectively to the status quo ante," Rice said.

In addition to the cease-fire document, Rice brought with her a letter signed by Sarkozy that clarifies the special security measures that Russian peacekeepers will be allowed to take on Georgian soil, officials said.

Sarkozy welcomed Georgia's signature of the ceasefire accord ending the hostilities with Russia and said the way was clear for a UN Security Council resolution to end the crisis.

"The President of the Republic considers that the conditions are now in place for the rapid adoption of a resolution by the Security Council and the definition of an international mechanism which will be charged with overseeing the implementation of the agreement on the ground," Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, has the power to veto any resolution.

Rights group accuses Russia of dropping cluster bombs

Meanwhile, a U.S. human rights group on Friday accused Russia of dropping cluster bombs in populated areas of Georgia during its military offensive that began last week, but Moscow denied the charge.

Human Rights Watch said Russian aircraft had used cluster bombs in two separate raids on the towns of Ruisi and Gori on Tuesday, August 12, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding dozens.

Asked about the report, the deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, told a news conference, "We never use cluster bombs. There is no need to do so."

The Gori strike killed at least eight people, Human Rights Watch said, including a Dutch cameraman. An Israeli journalist was among the wounded in the attack.

Russian troops on Friday also allowed some humanitarian supplies into the strategic Georgian city of Gori but continued their general blockade, raising doubts about Moscow's intentions in the war-battered country.

Georgia has asked the United Nation's highest court to issue an urgent order to Russia to halt what it describes as human rights violations on ethnic Georgians, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Thursday.

On Tuesday Georgia filed a lawsuit with the Hague-based ICJ or World Court, which investigates conflicts between nations, accusing Russia of ethnic cleansing in the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Typically cases before the ICJ take years to settle but if a party requests an "indication of provisional measures," the court's judges can make a swift provisional order.

In its suit Georgia accused Russia of violating an anti-discrimination convention during three interventions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia from 1990 to August 2008.

The ICJ said in a statement that Georgia has requested it as "a matter of utmost urgency" to order Russia to comply with the anti-discrimination convention and to immediately halt what Georgia termed "discriminatory violations of the human rights of ethnic Georgians, including attacks against civilians... murder, forced displacement, denial of humanitarian assistance."

Russian troops and armor deployed around three Georgian towns on Thursday, as international pressure mounted on Moscow over its continuing occupation of parts of Georgia.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "extremely concerned" about the humanitarian situation in Georgia and called for a halt to lawlessness.

In Gori, west of the capital Tbilisi, correspondents saw signs of looting, which locals blamed on militias from the neighboring province of South Ossetia, where the conflict erupted a week ago Thursday.

Russian armed forces have occupied parts of Georgia since repelling a Georgian attack last week on the tiny pro-Russian separatist territory of South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's control in the 1990s.

Bush accuses Russia of "bullying" in Georgia

Meanwhile Friday, Bush again expressed his support for Georgia and accused Russia of "bullying" and damaging its international standing by sending its military into Georgia.

But Bush, delivering a statement from the White House, also said the United States wanted to have good ties with Russia and not revert to Cold War-era relationships.

"A contentious relationship with Russia is not in America's interest and a contentious relationship with America is not in Russia's interest," Bush said before departing for Texas for a vacation.

But he added, "With its actions in recent days, Russia has damaged its credibility and its relations with the nations of the free world. Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."

Saakashvili: Need 'closer look' at U.S.-backed peace deal

Saakashvili said on Thursday he would need to "take a closer look" at a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal with Russia before signing it.

Asked in an interview with CNN's "Larry King Live" whether he would sign a six-point French-negotiated proposal that Rice is bringing to Georgia, Saakashvili said, "We have to see what she has to bring."

"We are still in the negotiating process.... Russians are trying to justify their invasion and to legalize their presence in Georgia," Saakashvili said.

"Without genuine international peacekeepers, without genuine international transparency, these people are going to make much more trouble for us and for the rest of Europe. I think we should take a closer look at it."

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      1.   Err... It Was Georgia That Tried to Ethnically Cleanse Assaita, 11:20  |  Johan Odin 15/08/08
      2.   Georgia president uses hair beauty products 11:29  |  Tamir Palestine 15/08/08
      3.   scare mongering tactics 12:51  |  VIPER 15/08/08
      4.   # 1 johan 15:12  |  Axel 15/08/08
      5.   Cluster bombs,NATO, US and Saakashvili 15:16  |  A Serb 15/08/08
      6.   # Johan Odin - Russia is INSIDE Georgia 15:37  |  Paul Henzen 15/08/08
      7.   # 4 paul 15:49  |  Axel 15/08/08
      8.   sticks and stones and rice 16:45  |  bird in the hand 15/08/08
      9.   #6 Hmmm, some interesting points there, Paul 17:11  |  Johnboy 15/08/08
      10.   US gross errors 18:38  |  fish 15/08/08
      11.   To fush fron t-a 18:59  |  Vital 15/08/08
      12.   paul 19:27  |  Axel 15/08/08
      13.   # 11 vital 19:37  |  Axel 15/08/08
      14.   AXEL - THE LIST THE LIST THE LIST 19:56  |  * BEN JABO 15/08/08
      15.   Weird aussie logic from Johnboy, #9 20:06  |  Voice of Reason 15/08/08
      16.   Russian Barbarian 20:43  |  Hussein 15/08/08
      17.   Go to the UN! 20:48  |  Mark Marshall 15/08/08
      18.   Paul - and when ... 20:51  |  Axel 15/08/08
      19.   @2 not only his hair is amazing 21:00  |  Suzanne 15/08/08
      20.   The Russian soldier’s vocabulary: blyad - whore 21:29  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 15/08/08
      21.   Mr. Saakashvili, it`s a game you know well 21:53  |  Pssd Off American 15/08/08
      22.   unconcerned 22:00  |  Iva bin nodden 15/08/08
      23.   To Vital from Israel 22:11  |  Libanais au Canada 15/08/08
      24.   putin 22:42  |  eva 15/08/08
      25.   How Saakashvi wants the west to fight the war he intiated for him 22:45  |  Shamuel 15/08/08
      26.   Hmmmmm !! 22:56  |  John Drayton 15/08/08
      27.   #1 - Err, Johan... are you absolutely sure? 22:59  |  JES 15/08/08
      28.   Putin is the problem 23:28  |  Sabra 15/08/08
      29.   Saakashvili is a loose cannon 00:54  |  Harold 16/08/08
      30.   #27 JES - South Ossetia declared independence in 1991 00:57  |  Johan Odin 16/08/08
      31.   Russian "barbarians" 01:00  |  tom 16/08/08
      32.   #27 Sabra and neither does the US or Israel 01:06  |  ballistic 16/08/08
      33.   russia..hehe 01:11  |  watcher 16/08/08
      34.   Johnboy, see through the charade (#9) 01:44  |  Morris Valentine 16/08/08
      35.   #27 Err JES plugs the neo con line 02:19  |  Boris 16/08/08
      36.   Georgia 02:48  |  Bruce Rubin 16/08/08
      37.   #36 03:04  |  Persian Hero 16/08/08
      38.   So Morris... 03:16  |  BBSNews 16/08/08
      39.   What cease-fire agreement ? 03:36  |  Joseph.E 16/08/08
      40.   34 - What charade? 03:42  |  Kibblets 16/08/08
      41.   #37 Persian Hero 03:58  |  * BEN JABO 16/08/08
      42.   #39 BEN JABO 04:16  |  Persian Hero 16/08/08
      43.   Russia would be out by now if 04:50  |  Harold 16/08/08
      44.   #41 ben jabo 04:52  |  Persian Hero 16/08/08
      45.   If Saakashvili Keeps Running His Mouth 05:08  |  World Citizen 16/08/08
      46.   #15, VOICE OF REASON on johnboy, unbelievable 05:50  |  VIPER 16/08/08
      47.   #9, john, you have outdone yourself 07:08  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 16/08/08
      48.   #30 - The Confederate States also declared independence 07:44  |  JES 16/08/08
      49.   Okay Everything Is Unraveling! 07:57  |  Yosemite 16/08/08
      50.   #38 - Unbelievably naive 08:12  |  JES 16/08/08
      51.   #46 - ASP VIPE 08:16  |  JES 16/08/08
      52.   #35 - And Boris spouts "agitprop" 08:20  |  JES 16/08/08
      53.   Georgia started this war 08:24  |  MiddleStanian 16/08/08
      54.   Voice of Reason: Try reading even Gerogians don`t like Saakashvil 08:48  |  Tupac 16/08/08
      55.   We Americans and Israel have ALSO used Cluster Bombs!!! 08:52  |  Tupac 16/08/08
      56.   To Axel and alikes. 09:11  |  Vital 16/08/08
      57.   Oh those Russians! 09:31  |  sinalco 16/08/08
      58.   #48 - Excuse me Tupac... 09:39  |  JES 16/08/08
      59.   #47 - Be careful Tupac... 09:42  |  JES 16/08/08
      60.   42 Heroe-finally, We`re in total agreement 10:10  |  Dave 16/08/08
      61.   Did Sakashvili take part in the Russian plot? 10:29  |  MiddleStanian 16/08/08
      62.   Israeli and US hypocrites 10:32  |  Marilyn 16/08/08
      63.   Saakashvili`s background 10:45  |  Arthur Rambler 16/08/08
      64.   Morris Valentine: seeing through the charade 10:53  |  Guy From NYC 16/08/08
      65.   Russian troops MUST move further into Georgia 12:13  |  Joseph.E 16/08/08
      66.   #34 Morris Valentine. Naivete runs both ways 12:48  |  Boris 16/08/08
      67.   georgia 12:54  |  haim 16/08/08
      68.   #30 - The Confederate States also declared independence (2nd Try) 13:41  |  JES 16/08/08
      69.   #38 - Unbelievably naive (2nd Try) 13:42  |  JES 16/08/08
      70.   RUSSIA/IRAN 13:47  |  THE TEACHER/INSTRUCT 16/08/08
      71.   Mighty Russia 13:48  |  Zoe 16/08/08
      72.   @34 Morris Valentine is getting senile, I am afraid 13:56  |  Mark B. 16/08/08
      73.   To all the staunch Georgia supporters 14:13  |  Mark B. 16/08/08
      74.   Hussein 15 14:25  |  sabra 16/08/08
      75.   #66 JES dons the rose-coloured glasses 16:25  |  Johnboy 16/08/08
      76.   #66 Masterly statement of the obvious, JES 16:35  |  Johnboy 16/08/08
      77.   71 Sabra - Not Any More 17:32  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/08/08
      78.   71 Sabra - Not Any More 17:33  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/08/08
      79.   #57 Dave :)) 17:57  |  Persian Hero 16/08/08
      80.   Russia always took neighbors` land 18:17  |  Motke 16/08/08
      81.   The Empire Strikes Back 18:38  |  Andy Samson 16/08/08
      82.   #57 Dave :)) 18:49  |  Persian Hero 16/08/08
      83.   Obviously the "big lie" technique still works 18:50  |  Voice of Reason 16/08/08
      84.   # 1, Oi, Honestly. 19:07  |  Shosh 16/08/08
      85.   Russian massacre in Georgia shame for Europe 19:34  |  Jonathan S 16/08/08
      86.   Russia signs cease-fire agreement with Georgia 19:52  |  vnoe 16/08/08
      87.   Georgia Is Lost. Save The Ukraine Instead. 20:59  |  Jeff Northridge 16/08/08
      88.   Jeff N (#87), Russia will now "lie low" until Obama takes office 21:36  |  Voice of Russia 16/08/08
      89.   Sorry Jeff N 22:15  |  Roo 16/08/08
      90.   Jeff Northridge wants to feed the Russians some more of the same 22:20  |  Mark B. 16/08/08
      91.   Georgian president is a liar. Here is the proof 22:31  |  paulo2005 16/08/08
      92.   Russian soldiers firing at journalists 22:44  |  Marty 16/08/08
      93.   Russian soldiers firing at journalists 22:45  |  Labhras 16/08/08
      94.   To GfNYC 23:22  |  Morris Valentine 16/08/08
      95.   To Boris - not good enough (#66) 23:27  |  Morris Valentine 16/08/08
      96.   To Mark B (#72) 23:30  |  Morris Valentine 16/08/08
      97.   87 Jeff Northridge - Ukraine is not a North Atlantic Country 23:36  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/08/08
      98.   Russian goals 23:48  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 16/08/08
      99.   The Americans Threw Saakashvili To The Dogs 01:32  |  World Citizen 17/08/08
      100.   #51, JES, i can point out the sites, here 04:30  |  VIPER 17/08/08
      101.   #75 - How terribly foolish of me... 06:57  |  JES 17/08/08
      102.   TO PROVOKE A RED BEAR TO BITE AND TO TEAR AYOU APART 07:12  |  indrajaya 17/08/08
      103.   #76 - Maybe not that obvious to you Johnboy 07:19  |  JES 17/08/08
      104.   #100 - Bravo ASP VIPE!! 07:27  |  JES 17/08/08
      105.   #103 - Correction 08:30  |  JES 17/08/08
      106.   Poor innocent Georgia 09:03  |  Steve Beikirch 17/08/08
      107.   #101 Not foolish, JES, just smug. 09:18  |  Johnboy 17/08/08
      108.   #103 You appear to miss my point, JES 09:29  |  Johnboy 17/08/08
      109.   Morris Valentine #95 The `Game` 14:44  |  Boris 17/08/08
      110.   #42 Persian Hero - At least get your #`s straight 18:00  |  * BEN JABO 17/08/08
      111.   #107 - Hmm, smugness is something you DO know about 19:46  |  JES 17/08/08
      112.   JES- some points 02:02  |  Boris 18/08/08
      113.   #111 I also recognize "contradiction" when I see it, JES 06:16  |  Johnboy 18/08/08
      114.   #111 You want to compare "smugness", JES? 06:27  |  Johnboy 18/08/08
      115.   #113 - No Johnboy 06:37  |  JES 18/08/08
      116.   #87 Man, that`s a bad strategy, Jeff..... 06:42  |  Johnboy 18/08/08
      117.   #112 - Oh, get real Boris 06:45  |  JES 18/08/08
      118.   dishonest JES-Get real yourself! 14:16  |  Boris 18/08/08
      119.   #114 - Really Johnboy (2nd Try) 19:13  |  JES 18/08/08
      120.   #118 - Boris 19:20  |  JES 18/08/08
      121.   #110-Of Ben Jabo and those Elusive Numbers---trying again 22:08  |  OnSecondThought 18/08/08
      122.   #121-2 OnSecondThought 23:24  |  * BEN JABO 18/08/08
      123.   I speak for myself Ben Jabo 07:07  |  OnSecondThought 19/08/08
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