Kavkaz

Georgia’s two breakaway states have re-affirmed their intention to declare independence. The leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia met President Medvedev at the Kremlin, who said Russia supported them and would guarantee their future.

Georgian police, who went back into the town of Gori this morning, are now said to be leaving, as Tbilisi claims Russian troops are “systematically destroying the town’s military infrastructure”.

The self-proclaimed Presidents of Georgia’s breakaway states have signed the peace deal to end the fighting in Georgia. At the Kremlin, President Medvedev assured them that Russia supports and will guarentee any decision they make about their future.

America has warned Russia it faces being cast into the international wilderness if it does not withdraw from Georgia. President Bush despatched his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to France and Georgia, to underline Washington’s support for Tbilisi and its anger at Moscow’s actions.

Georgia is preparing for an influx of refugees now that the fighting over South Ossetia appears to be over. A tented camp has been set up near the capital Tbilisi. It is just one of many camps being planned to house the thousands who have fled their homes in the …

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Blocking Russia from joining the World Trade Organization because of the conflict in Georgia would defy common sense and break Western promises, a Russian official said on Thursday in response to U.S. warnings.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO has barred a Russian ship from joining its multinational anti-terrorism patrol in the Mediterranean in apparent retaliation for Moscow’s military action against Georgia, a NATO diplomat said on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union foreign ministers agreed in principle on Wednesday to send monitors to supervise a French-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Georgia in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will spend at least $400 million in 2008 on restoring South Ossetia’s battered capital Tskhinvali, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Wednesday. Tskhinvali, with a population of about 35,000, bore the brunt of five days of fighting that began last Friday when Georgia sought to retake …

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, has ordered the military to cease its operations in Georgia and the breakaway regions of South Osetia and Abkhazia, according to the Kremlin.