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Medvedev Explains the South Ossetian Situation to the U.S.
The only way out of the crisis created by Georgian leaders is the withdrawal of Georgian armed forces from the conflict zone, the return to the road toward a peace settlement and, most importantly, the signing of a legally binding agreement on the nonuse of force. That was the opinion expressed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a telephone conversation with U.S. President George W. Bush. The call was initiated by the American side.
Medvedev expressed the hope that the United States and other countries interested in stability and security of the Caucasus will act toward that goal. During the conversation between the two presidents, Medvedev stressed that Georgia took aggressive action against civilians and Russian peacekeepers. “As a result of the barbarous actions planned in advance and carried out by the Georgian leadership, there have been many casualties, in the thousands, tens of thousands of refugees and massive violations of the right to life of an entire people,” Medvedev stated.
“Russia is being guided in this situation by only one thing,” the Russian president continued, “the task of immediately stopping the violence, protecting the civilian population and the rapid restoration of peace.” He said that, as part of its peacekeeping mission and in accordance with its international mandate, Russia is carrying out the task of forcefully bringing the Georgian side to peace, protecting the lives and dignity of citizens, as required by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russian law and the norms of any civilized nation.
Bush expressed serious concern over the situation and called for de-escalation. He expressed the intention of cooperating with the return to a political and diplomatic settlement.
www.kommersant.com
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