Eurasia

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has signed the ceasefire agreement faxed to him by US diplomats, formally ending hostilities with Georgia. Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili put pen to paper yesterday on the deal, which had already been signed by separatist leaders in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The occupation of Georgian territory and the methods used have brought some of the fiercest words from the USA in two decades. In an apparent violation of the ceasefire deal the Russian army is extending the zone it controls, and while US foreign minister Condoleezza Rice has recieved faithful assurances …

Russian tanks remain parked deep inside Georgia this morning, and there are reports of two more towns being brought under military control. An armoured column has been seen just 45 kilometres from the capital, shadowed by three helicopter gunships. Other Russian forces are on the move in Georgia well outside …

Five days of heavy fighting have left Tskhinvali, south Osettia, in ruins, but now at least refugees are returning. They find a cleanup struggling to make a difference, with few services and no utilities.

As international tension rises, parades marking Army Day in Poland have been held against a backdrop of Russian rage. Moscow is furious that Warsaw has agreed to host elements of a US global anti-missile system. By doing so, a senior Russian general was quoted as saying that Poland was making …

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has signed the ceasefire agreement delivered to him in person by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to end the week-long conflict with Russia.

US President George W. Bush has again expressed Washington’s support for Tbilisi. In a statement made from the White House, Bush said: “The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world and we will not cast them aside.”

The other half of the diplomatic pincer movement took place in Sochi, as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a pre-planned trip there to try to lean on the Russian president to withdraw his troops. The talks were short. Afterwards it appeared there had been no meeting of minds. Russia …

The self-styled president of South Ossetia has said Georgian refugees who fled the enclave will not be allowed to return home. The comments by Eduard Kokoity feature in an interview with the Russian newspaper “Kommersant.”

The Georgian town of Gori has been at the heart of the powerplay between Russia and Georgia. Most of the residents of Gori have fled the shooting, bombing and armoured intimidation.