Black Sea Turned into North-Atlantic Sea
// NATO ships spotted near the Georgian coast
NATO ships approach Georgia from the Black sea side
Yesterday Russia’s military warned of the possibility of NATO ships maneuvers in the Black Sea. According to Deputy Head of the Russian General Staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn, there are nine military ships of the alliance, which “makes the situation in the region more intense”. A military and diplomatic source has even stated that Russia will have to confront shock units of NATO’s Navy, “which is operating under the pretext of shipping humanitarian aid to Georgia or conducting exercises”. Meanwhile American navies have reached the town of Gori, which was controlled by the Russian army.
The accumulation of NATO forces in the Black Sea caused nervousness with the Russian military. Yesterday Deputy Head of the Russian General Staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn condemned the NATO ships’ maneuvers. According to him, there are as many as nine NATO ships – two American, one Spanish, German, Polish as well as four Turkish. “It makes the situation in the region more intense,” Mr Nogovitsyn concluded.
Meanwhile a source with RIA Novosti said that such ships as the USS McFaul destroyer, which arrived in the port of Batumi, and the USCGC Dallas endurance cutter, which is expected to arrive soon, “have never been used for shipping humanitarian aid”. “You can’t say for sure whether there is humanitarian aid on board the McFaul destroyer. Evidently, there are Tomahawks, which can be equipped with nuclear warheads,” stated the RIA Novosti source adding, “We will encounter shock units of NATO’s Navy, which is operating under the pretext of shipping humanitarian aid to Georgia or conducting exercises.”
Washington argues that the ships that appeared at the Georgian coast have been commissioned by President Bush to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgian military. The rest NATO ships, including Germany’s Luebeck, Spain’s Adm. Juan de Bourbon and Poland’s General K. Pulaski, arrived to the Bulgarian and Rumanian coast to participate in maneuvers, which were scheduled long ago. So, they have nothing to do with the latest developments in Georgia.
In either case, Batumi is the only Georgian port accessible to Americans. The larger port of Poti has been controlled by the Russian military. Yesterday the Georgian Interior Ministry reported that a column of armored personnel carriers with Russian soldiers entered Poti. In the town proper, there are Russian outposts. The military claim that their aim is examining American humanitarian cargoes shipped to Georgia.
Apart from Poti, Russia’s forces have been deployed in the security zones of the Georgia-Abkhaz and Georgia-Ossetian conflicts, which were determined by the Russian General Staff and which exceed the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Despite this, several American navies from the McFaul destroyer managed to get in the inland areas of the country, in the town of Gori. Yesterday Georgian channels broadcast footage where Americans examined the town’s districts which suffered form Russia’s bombardments and gave interviews to local journalists. Deputy Representative of France’s Foreign Ministry Frederic Desane, who claimed that his country insists on Russia’s pull-out from the Poti-Senaki strip, became another star of the Georgian television. “When negotiating with Russia, we stick to our position: Russia’s troops must be withdrawn from the Poti-Senaki highway, and the Russian government must observe the fifth point of the peace plan, which deals with additional security measures,” stated Mr Desane. He emphasized that the port of Poti is an essential component to the Georgian economy.
France is not the only country to express its foreign policy support of the Georgian government. The Georgian Foreign Ministry reported that in the near future a big delegation from Washington will pay a visit to Tbilisi. Cyndi McCain, the wife of John McCain is expected to arrive in Georgia. She’ll have a meeting with Georgian First Lady Sandra Roelofs and visit a refugee camp in South Ossetia. At the beginning of September Dick Cheney is expected to come to Tbilisi too. Then he’ll set off for Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Italy.
Yesterday South Ossetia’s authorities reported that Georgian units entered the village of Mosabruni, which is located on the territory of the breakaway republic. “They invaded the village. Now we’re negotiating for its liberation,” said acting Prime Minister of South Ossetia Boris Chochiev. At the same time spokesperson with the Georgian Interior Ministry Shota Utiashvili shared his view with Kommersant. According to him, the Georgian police didn’t enter the village of Mosabruni. Rather, it had been deployed there. There are Georgians there mostly, and it had been controlled by Georgians since the first conflict. “After Russia’s troops were stationed near the neighboring village of Akhalgori, South Ossetian troops approached Mosabruni. Now they accuse us of entering it. It is done to oust us once and for all. It’s calm there, but they can start firing at any moment,” believes Mr Utiashvili.
Georgy Dvali, Tbilisi; Vladimir Solovyov
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 26, 2008
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