Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has urged Russia to help resolve tension in Georgia’s rebel regions rather than “contributing to it”.
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Rice was in Tbilisi, the country’s capital, on Thursday in a show of support for Georgia, an ex-Soviet state which wants to join Nato and is at the centre of a tussle for influence between the US and Russia in the strategic south Caucasus.
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Georgia’s pro-Western government is locked in a confrontation with Russia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway regions backed by Moscow and where Russian troops are deployed.
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Russia accuses Georgia of fuelling tension in the region and says Moscow’s decision to send extra troops to the area, was to defend local people from Georgian aggression.
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‘Stop violence’
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Rice, speaking at a joint news conference with Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, said: “It (Russia) needs to be a part of resolving the problem and solving the problem and not contributing to it. I have said it to the Russians publicly. I have said it privately.
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“The violence needs to stop and whoever is perpetrating it, and I have mentioned this to the president, there should not be violence.”
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Rice also reaffirmed Washington’s support for Georgia’s bid to join Nato.
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South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Tbilisi’s rule after wars in the 1990s, Russia says Tbilisi wants to use force to re-establish its control.
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In the worst violence in months, a bomb in a cafe in Abkhazia killed four people on Sunday and separatists in South Ossetia said two people were killed last week in a heavy exchange of fire with Georgian forces.
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Russia said there was strong evidence Georgia’s government was behind the violence, though Tbilisi denied that.
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Russian confirmation
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Meanwhile, Russia confirmed on Thursday that its air force had flown over South Ossetia this week because it believed Tbilisi was preparing to attack the region.
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Russia’s foreign ministry said: “The need arose to take urgent and active measures to prevent bloodshed and keep the situation within peaceful bounds.
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“In order to clarify the situation, aircraft of the Russian air force carried out a brief flight over the territory of South Ossetia.
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“As subsequent events showed, this step allowed [us] to cool hot heads in Tbilisi and prevent events developing along military lines, the likelihood of which was more than real.”
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Georgia has alleged in the past that Russia trespassed in its airspace but Moscow has alaways denied it.
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The statement is Russia’s first admission for at least a decade that its air force has flown over Georgian territory.
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Georgia had earlier said Russian fighter jets entered its airspace late on Tuesday, less than 24 hours before Rice’s visit.
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Saakashvili said the jets had come close to the Georgian capital late on Tuesday.
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“Maybe they wanted to salute Secretary Rice,” he said. “I don’t know … This is a very worrisome development.”
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Saakashvili said Russia’s behaviour was a reaction to Nato expansion and an increasing US presence in the region.
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“Looks like some people did not notice that the Cold War is over. The main point is that Russia … no longer acknowledges the jurisdiction of Georgia towards an essential part of its territory,” he said.
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Source: Agencies
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Kavkaz Center