Kavkaz

Russia says its air force flew over Georgia region

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday that its air force had flown over Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia this week because it believed Tbilisi was preparing to attack the region. “The need arose to take urgent and active measures to prevent bloodshed and keep the situation within peaceful bounds,” Russia’s …

Read More »

Rice: Russia should not worsen tension in Georgia

TBILISI (Reuters) – Russia should help resolve tension over Georgia’s rebel regions instead of contributing to it, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday, and she urged an end to violence there. “It (Russia) needs to be a part of resolving the problem and solving the problem and not …

Read More »

Hague tribunal should be phased out: Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague was biased and its activities should be phased out as soon as possible. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the case of Bosnian Muslim wartime commander Naser Oric, whose conviction was overturned by the court, showed …

Read More »

Russia calls Georgia a risk to regional security

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry on Wednesday called Georgia a threat to stability in the South Caucasus, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to visit Tbilisi. The Russian foreign ministry’s statement listed occasions when it said Georgian forces had stirred trouble with its two …

Read More »

U.S. and Czechs sign missile deal prompting Moscow warning

PRAGUE (Reuters) – The United States and the Czech Republic signed an agreement on Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defense shield in the central European state despite opposition from its former Cold War master Russia. The U.S. and Czech foreign ministers toasted with champagne after signing the …

Read More »

Russia says will use military means if U.S. deploys shield

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Tuesday it would use military means if the United States deployed a missile defense shield close to Russia’s borders. “If the real deployment of an American strategic missile defense shield begins close to our borders, then we will be forced to react not with …

Read More »

Four Georgian soldiers held in breakaway region

TBILISI (Reuters) – Moscow-backed separatists in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region detained four Georgian soldiers on Monday, raising tension a day before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Tbilisi. South Ossetia, and Georgia’s second breakaway region of Abkhazia, are a regular source of friction between the pro-Western government in …

Read More »