Translated material
War for World Peace
Russia and Germany have different views on the conflict in Georgia
The Russian authorities are convinced of the legality of their actions on the territory of South Ossetia and, if necessary, are ready to act in the same way again. “We want to work in our usual good-neighborly manner, but if someone continues to encroach on our citizens, our peacekeepers, then, of course, we will respond in the same way as we answered, there should be no doubt about it,” the president said Dmitry Medvedev on Friday at his Bocharov Ruchey residence in Sochi. Here he received German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Her visit had been planned for a long time, but the military conflict between Russia and Georgia completely changed the agenda. Speaking to reporters after the first round of negotiations, the leaders of the two countries admitted that they were talking exclusively about South Ossetia. However, a joint press conference showed that during these negotiations the parties were unable to convince each other. The leaders of Russia and Germany spoke different languages, not only literally, but also figuratively.
“It seems that Mr. Saakashvili was simply tired of all this diplomacy, and he decided with one throw, one decision to solve all the problems, to remove the Ossetians who were bothering him. Therefore, the operation was called accordingly - “Clean Field,” said Dmitry Medvedev. But these words did not make much of an impression on Mrs. Merkel. “Even taking into account the description of events given by the Russian side, I still consider Russia’s presence on Georgian territory to be unlawful,” she believes. The Russian president promised to give her photographs and video materials about the actions of the Georgian authorities in Ossetia, but it is clear that the opinion of the majority of Western countries is unlikely to undergo significant correction.
“Not every nation in the world is capable of becoming a separate state. Russia itself is familiar with this problem on its own territory,” Mrs. Merkel recalled about Chechnya. “The initial principle is the territorial integrity of Georgia. Different opinions can then be discussed step by step. We have not been able to find a solution to this conflict for 15 years, but we cannot wait that long,” she continued.
Dmitry Medvedev expressed the opposite point of view. The President repeated the statement he made the day before at a meeting with the heads of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - Eduard Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh. “After what happened, it is unlikely that Ossetians and Abkhazians will be able to live in the same state with Georgians. And Russia, as the guarantor of security in the Caucasus, will make a decision that will unambiguously reflect the will of these two Caucasian peoples. And he will not only accept this will, but will also be guided in his foreign policy by this will and guarantee its implementation on the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in accordance with the peacekeeping mandate that we have,” said Mr. Medvedev.
The parties also failed to reach a consensus on who can be trusted to maintain peace in the conflict zone. Angela Merkel proposed to involve OSCE forces there. Moscow agrees to expand the number of military observers from the OSCE in South Ossetia, but not yet to an international peacekeeping contingent.
In fact, the only question to which the two leaders did not give a polar answer was related to the need to provide humanitarian assistance as quickly as possible.
However, Mrs. Merkel’s speech differed from many of her colleagues in the absence of harsh anti-Russian rhetoric and calls to expel Russia from a number of international structures. “Our countries are too intertwined,” she said, apparently referring to cooperation in energy and other areas.
Nevertheless, Dmitry Medvedev considered it necessary to demonstrate that the Kremlin cannot be frightened by any threats of isolation from the rest of humanity. “We live in a very fragile world, and it is quite obvious that a global deterioration in the international situation will benefit only the most reactionary forces. Anyone who does not understand this is blind and does not feel what is happening. And we proceed from the fact that sanity on this issue must prevail, our partners must still, as they say, absolutely clearly understand what happened and what the consequences of what happened, and not try to look for one guilty party, much less blame everything on the Russian Federation,” he believes.
However, from Angela Merkel’s answers it was obvious that the West intends to follow the proclaimed course in other issues as well. This applies to the membership of Georgia and Ukraine in NATO, and the deployment of a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. “From my point of view, this agreement is not directed against Russia, but corresponds to the construction of a missile defense that will protect against countries such as, for example, Iran. We will continue to advocate for these negotiations to continue, and we are thinking about how to involve Russia in this process,” Mrs. Merkel said, clearly not in unison with what Mr. Medvedev said a minute ago. “The deployment of new missile defense forces in Europe is aimed at the Russian Federation. And the moment for this was chosen appropriately. And therefore, fairy tales about restraining other states, fairy tales about how some rogue states are restrained with the help of these means, do not work,” the Russian president is convinced.
After Sochi, Angela Merkel headed to Tbilisi to meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.