TSKHINVALI, Georgia: Russian troops and tanks took the capital of the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia yesterday after a bloody three-day battle as Georgian forces retreated and declared a unilateral cease-fire.
Russia ordered in soldiers and bombed Georgian targets after Tbilisi attempted on Thursday evening to retake South Ossetia, a small pro-Russian province, which broke away from Georgia in the 1990s.
The Georgian retreat came after Russia expanded its bombing blitz, targeting the Georgian capital’s airport area.
President Mikheil Saakashvili issued a cease-fire order, the Foreign Ministry said and the country’s Security Council head said troops had withdrawn from South Ossetia.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a telephone call with his Georgian counterpart Eka Tkeshelashvili late yesterday cited evidence that Georgian troops remained in and around Tskhinvali, where the fighting has been the most brutal.
“Georgia expresses its readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on a cease-fire and termination of hostilities,” the Georgian ministry said in a statement, adding that it had notified Russia’s envoy to Tbilisi.
Russia said it wants Georgia to first pull its troops from South Ossetia and sign a pledge not to use force against the breakaway province. But Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said that Moscow needed to verify the Georgian claims of withdrawal. “We must check all that. We don’t trust the Georgian side,” he said.
The United States, Georgia’s main ally, condemned Moscow’s military action and warned that any further escalation could have a “significant, long-term impact” on relations.
In a possible opening of a second front in the conflict, Georgia accused Russia of starting a military operation earlier yesterday in Abkhazia, another separatist region of Georgia to the west of South Ossetia. Moscow denied involvement.
Ukraine warned Russia yesterday it could bar Russian Navy ships from returning to their base in the Crimea because of their deployment to Georgia’s coast. The statement could affect Russian-Ukrainian relations, already strained by energy disputes and Ukraine’s plans to join NATO.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the Russian naval deployment to Georgia’s Black Sea coast has the potential to draw Ukraine into the Russian-Georgian conflict.
