UN split on Ossetia resolutionsThe UN Security Council is deadlocked over the situation in Georgia with the US and Russia rejecting rival resolutions on the crisis.
Washington says it is prepared to veto a Russian resolution seeking to implement a six-point ceasefire plan.
Russia has reiterated its opposition to a rival French text, reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity.
Most Russian soldiers are due to leave Georgia shortly but 500 will stay in a "buffer zone" around South Ossetia.
Russia has set itself a deadline of Friday night to pull back all its combat troops .
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has told the BBC the Russians are still consolidating their hold on parts of his country, and he again accused them of trying to paralyse the Georgian economy.
Russia fought a four-day war with Georgia after it tried to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia by force on 7 August.
Moscow has had peacekeeping troops in the province, which it borders, since it broke away in the early 1990s.
Rival resolutions
There is no sign of agreement over the rival resolutions, one backed by Russia and the other by Western European countries and the US, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan reports from New York.
Two days ago, France circulated a draft resolution, calling for an immediate Russian withdrawal from Georgia and reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity.
Russia rejected this because it said Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia wanted independence.
Moscow circulated its own draft calling on the Security Council to endorse the six-point peace plan brokered by France and agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi.
"Our draft resolution is a reconfirmation of the six-point agreement, and there's no territorial integrity in the six principles," said Russia's UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin.
Now Russia's ambassador says his resolution is going into its final form, so it can be voted on.
But the US and its allies insist Russia is not respecting the ceasefire plan because it is not withdrawing from Georgia quickly enough.
The US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Alejandro Wolff, said under the circumstances he thought America would be prepared to oppose Russia's resolution.
'Dictating the pace'
Russia's land forces commander, Gen Vladimir Boldyrev, has said that all Russian combat troops will move back from Georgia proper to South Ossetia by the weekend.
Most of the soldiers sent to the region as reinforcements will return from South Ossetia to Russia within 10 days, he added.
However, Moscow will retain 500 peacekeepers in a security zone stretching 7km (four miles) beyond the border of South Ossetia into Georgia proper - a move Tbilisi says is unacceptable.
Despite international condemnation, Russia is still dictating the slow pace of this withdrawal, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from Moscow.
Tbilisi says any Russian soldier on its soil is an occupier and Nato has condemned the Russian approach.
In response, the Russian defence ministry said on Thursday it was halting all military cooperation whilst it re-considered its relationship with the alliance.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Washington says it is prepared to veto a Russian resolution seeking to implement a six-point ceasefire plan.
Russia has reiterated its opposition to a rival French text, reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity.
Most Russian soldiers are due to leave Georgia shortly but 500 will stay in a "buffer zone" around South Ossetia.
Russia has set itself a deadline of Friday night to pull back all its combat troops .
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has told the BBC the Russians are still consolidating their hold on parts of his country, and he again accused them of trying to paralyse the Georgian economy.
Russia fought a four-day war with Georgia after it tried to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia by force on 7 August.
Moscow has had peacekeeping troops in the province, which it borders, since it broke away in the early 1990s.
Rival resolutions
There is no sign of agreement over the rival resolutions, one backed by Russia and the other by Western European countries and the US, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan reports from New York.
Two days ago, France circulated a draft resolution, calling for an immediate Russian withdrawal from Georgia and reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity.
Russia rejected this because it said Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia wanted independence.
Moscow circulated its own draft calling on the Security Council to endorse the six-point peace plan brokered by France and agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi.
"Our draft resolution is a reconfirmation of the six-point agreement, and there's no territorial integrity in the six principles," said Russia's UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin.
Now Russia's ambassador says his resolution is going into its final form, so it can be voted on.
But the US and its allies insist Russia is not respecting the ceasefire plan because it is not withdrawing from Georgia quickly enough.
The US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Alejandro Wolff, said under the circumstances he thought America would be prepared to oppose Russia's resolution.
'Dictating the pace'
Russia's land forces commander, Gen Vladimir Boldyrev, has said that all Russian combat troops will move back from Georgia proper to South Ossetia by the weekend.
Most of the soldiers sent to the region as reinforcements will return from South Ossetia to Russia within 10 days, he added.
However, Moscow will retain 500 peacekeepers in a security zone stretching 7km (four miles) beyond the border of South Ossetia into Georgia proper - a move Tbilisi says is unacceptable.
Despite international condemnation, Russia is still dictating the slow pace of this withdrawal, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from Moscow.
Tbilisi says any Russian soldier on its soil is an occupier and Nato has condemned the Russian approach.
In response, the Russian defence ministry said on Thursday it was halting all military cooperation whilst it re-considered its relationship with the alliance.
Story from BBC NEWS:
No comments:
Post a Comment