http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=09&dd=01&nav_id=5
3126
BBC News
September 1, 2008
Backing Georgia "mistake of historic magnitude"
MOSCOW, BRUSSELS - Russia's FM Sergei Lavrov has
warned against further Western support for Georgia's
present leadership.
Continued support would be a mistake of historic
magnitude, Lavrov said, and called for an embargo on
arms supplies to Georgia until a different government
was in place there.
He was speaking ahead of an emergency EU leaders'
summit on the Georgian crisis.
They are expected to condemn Moscow's recognition of
independence for Georgia's breakaway regions of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says his decision is
irrevocable.
Correspondents say that despite talk of sanctions from
the French foreign minister last week, such a tough
response now looks highly unlikely.
....
The EU's 27 members are united in their alarm at
Russia's action in Georgia, but divided about how to
respond, says the BBC.
But calls for a fundamental change in the relationship
with Russia are unlikely to get the support required.
Many EU states are wary of alienating Russia, an
important trading partner and a major energy supplier,
our correspondent says.
....
The summit comes a day after British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown called for a root-and-branch review of
the EU's relationship with Russia, saying no nation
should be allowed to exert an energy stranglehold over
Europe. [Except the United States and Britain itself,
of course.]
But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
warned Europe would only hurt itself if, as he put it,
it were to get emotional and slam the doors.
France, which currently chairs the EU and brokered a
peace deal between Russia and Georgia, has called the
meeting, which is expected to last about three hours.
"Russia's commitment to a relationship of
understanding and co-operation with the rest of Europe
is in doubt," wrote French President Nicolas Sarkozy
in a letter to EU leaders before the summit obtained
by the Associated Press news agency.
"It's up to Russia today to make a fundamental choice
and to engage neighbors and partners in settling
disputes peacefully."
On the eve of the summit, President Medvedev warned
that Russia was ready to retaliate against any
sanctions the EU might impose.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili urged EU
leaders not to give up in the face of what he called
Russia's "dirty attempt at aggression".
Russia's four-day war with Georgia began on August 7
when Georgia tried to regain control of South Ossetia
by force, and Russia counter-attacked deep into
Georgia.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
