"Georgia proper"

NATO is not slamming the door on Russia

An emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance at the level of foreign ministers, held yesterday in Brussels in the wake of the Caucasus war, demonstrated that the rapidly deteriorating relations between Russia and the West have not yet reached their lowest point and may even have a chance for improvement. There is no unity among the 26 NATO member states regarding future cooperation with Russia.

The final statement, addressed primarily to Moscow, was not as tough as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wanted, although not as restrained as some other members of the alliance proposed. Due to differences in wording, the discussion dragged on for several hours. “A number of participants feared excessive pressure on Russia, both from the point of view of maintaining peace in the Caucasus and in the context of building further relations with it,” a Western diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, explained to reporters.

France, Germany and Italy showed restraint. Solidarity with the USA - the Balts, Scandinavians, Poland and, with a number of reservations, Great Britain. It is curious that the closest ally of the United States, Great Britain, represented by Foreign Minister David Miliband, on the eve of the meeting, unexpectedly called on his colleagues to take a “sober position” and develop cooperation with Russia, speaking out against its exclusion from the G8 and for its admission to the World Trade Organization. German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier also noted that the isolation of Russia “cannot be a recipe for the future.” His French colleague Bernard Kouchner spoke out against the “language of ultimatums.” Nevertheless, Paris promises to convene an emergency meeting of the European Union regarding Russia to develop “more serious measures” of influence if it does not withdraw its troops to their original positions before the conflict as soon as possible.

As a result, the alliance finally suspended meetings of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), created in 2002, conditioning the resumption of work on Moscow's implementation of all six points of the peace plan agreed last week by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. The alliance is seeking that Russia “immediately withdraw” its troops from Georgia.

At the same time, the West does not talk about Abkhazia and South Ossetia, meaning only “the main territory of Georgia” - this expression was used yesterday by German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier. In some translations of his words, it sounded like “withdraw troops from Georgia proper.”

The alliance reiterated its "concern over Russia's actions during the crisis," calling its military operation "disproportionate and inconsistent with its role as a peacemaker." At the same time, NATO promised assistance to Georgia “in many areas,” including economic recovery and the development of partnerships with NATO, which the country is so eager to join. The issue of Georgia's gradual accession to NATO will be considered in December, but in the meantime, a permanent Georgia-NATO commission will be created for closer cooperation. From sources in the Vremya Novostey alliance it became known that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vladimir Ohryzko will soon visit Brussels to discuss the prospects for NATO membership.

Although the decisions taken do not appear to be as harsh as Washington apparently wanted, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the bloc's statement "biased and biased." There is “not a word” in it about “who started aggressive actions, who armed Georgia, who has consistently blocked Russia’s statements and proposals for Tbilisi to conclude a legally binding agreement with South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the inadmissibility of the use of force” . “In essence, the North Atlantic Alliance has taken Mr. Saakashvili under its protection,” concluded Sergei Lavrov.

Alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who spoke yesterday about the “occupation of Georgia by Russia,” noted that relations with Moscow cannot “continue as before.” Sergei Lavrov responded to this by noting that the leadership of the alliance had made “prejudiced assessments” from the very beginning of the conflict in South Ossetia. “Moscow has not heard a single word from the Secretary General condemning the aggression, ethnic cleansing and war crimes that were committed in South Ossetia by Mr. Saakashvili,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander said in an interview with Vremya Novostey on the eve of the NATO meeting. Grushko.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer nevertheless stated that “the doors of the alliance are not slammed” in front of Russia. “The future depends on Russia,” concluded the Secretary General. In Moscow they say that “the ball is in NATO’s court.” In the coming days, the alliance will send a representative to Tbilisi to monitor developments and inform NATO.

Yesterday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with the participation of Russia, decided to increase the number of military observers of the OSCE mission in Georgia to 100 people. They will have to monitor Georgia's fulfillment of its obligations under the Six Points. It is expected that 20 of them will begin to work in the near future in the regions of Georgia adjacent to South Ossetia. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko emphasized, the observers are called upon to “monitor the implementation by the Georgian authorities of all their obligations, including the non-resumption of hostilities and the return of the Georgian armed forces to their places of permanent deployment.”

“NATO's ability to influence Russian operations in Georgia is currently limited. In addition, NATO does not want to resolve the conflict with Russia in Georgia by sending troops there,” Nick Grono, acting president of the International Crisis Group (an analytical structure in Brussels), told Vremya Novostey about this. Leading analyst at the Center for European Policy in Brussels, Antonio Misseroli, agrees with him. “Not only NATO, but also the European Union has no leverage over Russia,” he noted to our newspaper.

While a NATO meeting was going on in Brussels, a group of Ossetians held a rally in front of its headquarters with posters condemning Georgia. For NATO employees, such rallies are unusual. A Vremya Novostei correspondent heard one of the officials grinning near the admissions office to the alliance headquarters: “The Russians are already knocking on our gates, and we are still chatting and chatting.”

Katerina LABETSKAYA, Anya VVEDENSKAYA, Brussels