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OSLO, Norway – Norway’s Defense Ministry says Russia has informed it that it plans to cut all military ties with NATO.
Ministry spokeswoman Heidi Langvik-Hansen says the country’s embassy received a telephone call from Russia’s Defense Ministry, saying Moscow plans “to freeze all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries.”
Norway was told in the telephone call a written note about this would be sent out shortly.
Russian officials were not immediately available to confirm the information and officials at NATO headquarters said they have not been informed of any such moves.
NATO foreign ministers suspended formal contacts with Russia as punishment for sending troops into Georgia.
Russia will draw its own conclusions over NATO’s stance on the conflict in South Ossetia. That’s the message from Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, after the alliance’s meeting in Brussels.
NATO accused Moscow of disproportionate use of force, but Lavrov hit back by criticising the alliance for failing to look into the root of the conflict.
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the NATO foreign ministers, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was very specific in his evaluation of the South Ossetian conflict.
“Russian forces are basically occupying a large part of Georgia,” De Hoop Scheffer repeated several times.
However, when asked about Georgia’s actions, De Hoop Scheffer refused to comment.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said:
“We are puzzled by how NATO assesses the way the peace agreement is being implemented. They blame us only. As if these principles don’t require Georgian leaders to immediately withdraw all their troops to their original positions.”
NATO’s position was clear: it supports Georgia and is uncertain about future relations with Russia.
- Abkhazia parliament approves call to Russia for recognition
SUKHUMI, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Abkhazia’s parliament has approved an appeal by the president of the separatist republic for Russia to recognize its independence from Georgia.
The proclamation was backed by all 26 MPs attending the extraordinary session. The MPs also adopted an appeal to the parliaments and governments of other countries.
The recognition request was prepared shortly after Georgia launched an offensive on South Ossetia, another secessionist republic in Georgia, on August 8.
Russia to Back Independence for Abkhazia
(Deutsche Welle) – The speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Sergei Mironov, said that Russian lawmakers were “ready” to recognize the regions independence from Georgia. An emergency session would be held to discuss the request, he added.
“The Council of Federation is ready to recognize an independent status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, if the peoples of the two republics want it and if there is a supporting decision of the President of Russia,” Mironov was quoted as saying in the southern Russia city of Vladikavkaz, where he visited refugees from the conflict in Georgia’s other breakaway region of South Ossetia.
De facto independence
Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have enjoyed de facto independence since winning a war of succession from Georgia in the early 1990s. They have since strengthened their ties with Russia, though Russia has not yet formally recognized their independence.
Most residents in the two separatist provinces have been issued Russian passports in recent years, but while South Ossetians would like to unite with the ethnically-linked Russian region of North Ossetia, Abkhazia is lobbying to be recognized as an independent country.
very serious tit-for-tat goings on here.
someone bit off more than their stomachs can hold.
We’re not pulling out says Russian General…plans 18 long term checkpoints inside Georgia
A Billmon’s a must read:
Anatomy of A(nother) Fiasco
Kosovo needed to be free. So do the Georgian republics. There is nothing to fear, its about self-determination. Alaska voted on separation years ago as I remember……I urge Texas to vote for independence. Just kidding.
Iceberg ahead. Better get it right with Russia..our financial ship of state is lisiting, has hit the triple Freddie, Fannie and Lehman iceberg.
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The principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev, has led a concert in Tskhinvali. The performance was staged next to the destroyed parliament building in the bombed-out capital of South Ossetia.
Tskhinvali in ruinsValery Gergiev is of Ossetian origin but was born in Moscow. He grew up in North Ossetia and studied in St Petersburg.
“I’ve got a lot of friends and relatives living in South Ossetia. Although I haven’t lost my loved ones, my friends lost five relatives,” Gergiev said. He believes that Russia did everything possible to save Ossetians from complete extermination.
According to the Mariinsky Theatre, the concert will feature Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s fifth and sixth symphonies and Dmitry Shostakovich’s famous “invasion” theme from his sixth symphony.
Video
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."ripple effect
Big-power strategic alliances shift as result of Georgia conflict -Syria seeks weapons deal with Russia amid ‘Cold War’
Will Iran be receiving gift baskets too?
shutting down the NATO supply route through Russia to Afghanistan?
This would leave only the Pakistani supply route which will probably be shut down next year.
The Afghani War is going to be much more fun!
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The connection factor is the preliminary behind-closed-doors agreement for NATO supplies to transit Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Northern Afghanistan by land. There is only so much the US and allied Air Forces can transit by cargo plane. That’s why so much material is transited through Pakistan, an increasingly problematic supply route that has been subjected to some serious attacks recently.
The initial Central Asian transit route agreement that was reached earlier this year had the approval of Russia. But now? Is it doomed? Is it just one of several bargaining chips that Russia has (the big one being energy)?
Uzbekistan’s railway networks
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."