Georgia Leader Cancels Moscow Trip Amid Troop Dispute (Update2)
Bloomberg
July 21 2006
July 21 (Bloomberg) — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
canceled a trip to today’s Moscow summit of former Soviet states
as increasing tension over the presence of Russian peacekeepers in
his country threatens to derail Russia’s attempts to join the World
Trade Organization.
"He’s not coming," because he and Russian President Vladimir Putin were
unable to find time to meet privately at the summit, Georgian Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Nino Kajaia said in a phone interview. Saakashvili
was busy planning changes to his Cabinet’s lineup, after dismissing
his ministers today to allow new appointments to take place on July
24, Kajaia said. Both governments said talks may be rescheduled.
Russian-Georgian relations, tense since Saakashvili came to power after
the 2003 "Rose Revolution" vowing to join the European Union and NATO,
worsened this year as Russia banned Georgian wine and mineral water
imports, citing health grounds. Georgia said July 14 it may review
a trade accord with Russia, a step that could wreck Russia’s push to
join the WTO.
Putin’s government estimates WTO admission, on which talks have lasted
for more than a decade, would add $10 billion a year to its economy
by aiding exporters. The country’s decade-long bid to join the WTO
stalled last week over its barriers to U.S. meat exports. The U.S. is
the only one of the WTO’s 149 members yet to approve an accord that
would let Russia join the group.
Russia must sign individual treaties with every WTO member before
being admitted to the organization.
Ukraine President Cancels
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, a Saakashvili ally, also
decided not to attend the two-day summit of leaders from the 12-member
Commonwealth of Independent States, citing the "political situation"
in his own country, according to Yushchenko’s Web site.
A political standoff has left Ukraine without a government since
parliamentary elections in March.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian also canceled his trip to the
summit because he has a bronchial infection, Interfax said, citing
his press office. Armenia’s Foreign Ministry had no comment on the
report when contacted by phone.
Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper today said Turkmenistan’s President
Saparmurat Niyazov, who has missed some previous CIS summits, will
skip the meeting. The CIS includes all of the former Soviet states,
except for the three Baltic republics.
Turkmenistan is in a dispute with Russia over natural gas prices.
Georgian Demands
In a July 18 resolution, Georgian lawmakers called for an international
force to replace Russian troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The
regions, with pro-Russian leaderships, broke away from Georgia when
the country became independent after the Soviet Union was dissolved in
1991 and have been outside Georgian control since a civil war. Russia’s
government this week said the vote was a Georgian attempt to provoke
conflict.
Georgia will reopen bilateral trade talks with Russia and demands
Putin’s government deal with its concerns about Russia’s policies,
Interfax reported, citing Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Tamara
Kovziridze in Tbilisi. Russia must close allegedly illegal checkpoints
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, ship taxable goods only through the
legal Kazbegi-Verkhny Lars checkpoint and protect Georgian goods and
intellectual property, Interfax cited Kovziridze as saying.
Saakashvili has the support of the U.S., which has been critical of
Russia’s record on democracy and human rights. Russian energy supplies
to Georgia were cut this year in incidents that Putin’s government
said were accidents or terrorist acts. Saakashvili accused Russia
of sabotage.
`Full Timetable’
The informal summit at the Presidents’ Cup horserace at the Moscow
Hippodrome has a full timetable that "does not allow the possibility
of separate, detailed bilateral conversations," Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement. Saakashvili and Putin last met in the
Russian president’s hometown of St. Petersburg on July 13.
The EU said in a statement today that it’s "deeply concerned" about
continuing tension between Georgia and Russia.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, a Putin supporter, visited Abkhazia
yesterday, with the Georgian Foreign Ministry describing his trip as
"a provocation and yet another demonstration of disrespect for the
universally recognized norms and principles of international law." It
said the trip showed Russian policy is aimed at "actual annexation
of Georgian territory."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
