BATUMI, Georgia: A US Navy destroyer carrying relief supplies arrived at a port in Georgia yesterday in a sign of robust US support for its ally as Russian troops dug in further up the coast.
Moscow faced renewed pressure to withdraw its forces from western Georgia, where they control access to the key Black Sea port of Poti. They also held positions around South Ossetia.
France called a meeting of European leaders on Sept. 1 to discuss the crisis in Georgia and the European Union’s relations with Russia. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said in a statement that France, in its role as current president of the European Union, had called the summit, which will take place in Brussels.
In further fallout from the conflict, a train carrying fuel from Azerbaijan exploded just west of Gori in central Georgia, sending a thick black tower of smoke billowing into the air.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said the explosion on the rail track, a vital east-west link across Georgia, was the result of a mine laid across the tracks or nearby. No casualties were reported.
The USS McFaul dropped anchor off Batumi, 50 km south of Poti, the first of three ships carrying blankets, food and other supplies to help Georgia deal with an estimated 100,000 displaced people.
A top Russian general accused NATO countries of using humanitarian aid as “cover” for a buildup of naval forces in the Black Sea, heightening tension in the aftermath of the conflict.
Russia withdrew tanks, artillery and hundreds of troops from their most advanced positions in Georgia on Friday, saying it had fulfilled all obligations under a French-brokered peace agreement. But Russian troops still control access to Poti, south of the Moscow-backed rebel region of Abkhazia, and have established other checkpoints around South Ossetia, where the conflict began.
Sarkozy also telephoned his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and asked him to withdraw his forces from a road linking Poti to Senaki in western Georgia. Sarkozy and Medvedev agreed on the need for an “international mechanism” in the area south of South Ossetia, a French statement said.
The Kremlin said it was ready to cooperate with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor a buffer zone near South Ossetia, but it said there had been no discussion about replacing Russian troops by international monitors. The West sees the presence of OSCE monitors as critical to ensuring the success of the cease-fire.
The vague six-point peace plan has been interpreted differently by Russia and the West, with Russia claiming it has the right to leave peacekeepers deep inside Georgia.
