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“I have taken the decision to end the operation to force Georgian authorities into peace,” Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Boston.com photographs click on image
MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to military action in Georgia, saying it had punished Georgia and restored security for civilians and Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway South Ossetia region.
“The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored,” Medvedev said in a nationally televised statement. “The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganized.”
At the same time, Medvedev ordered the military to quell any signs of Georgian resistance.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow won’t talk to President Mikhail Saakashvili and Saakashvili “better go.”
Ahead of Medvedev announcement:
OSCE “carefully optimistic” on S Ossetia peace plan
Below an exceptional editorial on the situation in Georgia leading up to the attack.
By Eric HOESLI, author of On the Conquest of the Caucasus: Geopolitical Epic and Wars of Influence.
This crisis occurs precisely when the Saakashvili government is faced with a dilemma. There will be no NATO without the resolution of the Abkhazian and Southern Ossetian conflicts. Moreover, the state of relations with Moscow, like the evolution of the Adjar issue, does not permit hope for renewed collaboration with the Russian regime. However, time is working against Tbilisi. The regime built its identity on the reestablishment of territorial integrity. At the risk of losing ground and being sidelined by those close to Irakli Okruachvili, the Georgian Minister of Defense, Mr. Saakashvili cannot allow himself to stay inactive or absent on this issue. Thus, he must take action, but briskly and without too much turmoil. On the other side of the Atlantic, the American hawks categorically refuse any impromptu armed conflict, especially against Russia and in a state where American troops are stationed. This summer, during Mr. Okruachvili’s visit, Washington repeated this assertion.
Military experts, including those in the West, all agree that the Georgian army is now ready for an offensive in Southern Ossetia. The Ossetian militias are not in any position to resist, and even the Roki corridor could be placed under control quickly. The Russians know this perfectly well. The only technical obstacle in an offensive of this type is the presence of Russian peacekeeping forces deployed on the secessionist province’s territory.
Thus, the risk of a rapid conflict in Ossetia is particularly high. Tbilisi must ensure the support and sympathy of Georgian public opinion–which is already done–and also of Western opinion–which is almost done. The Sakaashvili government must also manage the increasing mistrust of its position in the European chancelleries and even in Washington where its populist program and nationalist rhetoric, up until now confined to Georgia, have created worries. From this perspective, there is a precarious balance for the team in power in Georgia.
On the other hand, the Kremlin must demonstrate that Mr. Sakaashvili is drifting astray and that he is ready to attack Russian troops, all in order to replace them with different ones–those of NATO. The objective for Russia is to maintain its peacekeeping forces at all costs. These forces are strategic for the future in that they can be positioned as victims in the event of a Georgian attack.
See my earlier diaries –
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
