Thankfully, our government has been issuing statements of support and demands for Russia to withdraw troops from Georgian territory as soon as possible. But it looks like both sides are digging in for the long haul.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he had to act to defend South Ossetia's civilians, most of whom have been given Russian citizenship.
He also voiced anger over the reported fatalities of Russian servicemen in the breakaway province.
"We will not allow their deaths to go unpunished," he said. "Those responsible will receive a deserved punishment."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had received reports that villages in South Ossetia were being ethnically cleansed.
There's also reports that Russian air strikes are being conducted in Georgia itself which only increases the chances that the conflict will intensify, I think. If things would stay locked down in South Ossetia, common sense and the international community might be able to settle things down. But Russia sounds bellicose and Georgia doesn't sound much better:
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russia was at war with his country.
He told the BBC: "Our troops are attacked by thousands of troops coming in from Russia."
Mr Saakashvili said Georgia had shot down several Russian planes and accused Moscow of bombing Georgian air bases and towns, resulting in the death of 30 military personnel and civilians.
No word on whether or not any attempts to calm things down are getting anywhere as of yet. I'm willing to bet the UN won't get anywhere as Russia has veto power on the Security Council and China still is pretty dodgey about poking its nose in what it would probably perceive as an internal Russian thing.
Bit of an Olympic connection though: President Bush and Prime Minister Putin have apparently (per Bob Costas and via tape delay) discussed the situation in Beijing. And NBC had a shot of Bush and Putin talking intensely about something. I'm willing to bet it wasn't the weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment