RUSSIA SLAMS BRITISH STANCE ON GEORGIA, SAYS IT STICKS TO "ORIGINAL" PEACE PLAN

Interfax, Russia
Aug 27 2008

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed the criticism of
Russia’s actions in Georgia contained in the speech made in Kiev by
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. He also insisted that Russia
was not a party in the conflict in Georgia and that it was committed
to the peace deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy –
but only in what he described as its "original form". According to
Lavrov, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili did not sign the deal
itself but only "the letter addressed to him" by Sarkozy. The Russian
minister also repeated his usual criticism of Saakashvili and well as
of NATO expansion. The following is text of report by corporate-owned
Russian news agency Interfax

Dushanbe, 27 August: Russia is perplexed by the Western countries’
criticism of Moscow’s actions to resolve the Georgian- Abkhaz and
Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov said, responding to a speech in Kiev
by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

According to Lavrov, the British minister had said that the sight of
Russian tanks in Georgia on the 40th anniversary of Prague Spring
showed that force instincts were still active. "What actually
happened was not the appearance of Russian tanks in a neighbouring
country but an attack by Georgian tanks, Grad systems and aviation
working on peaceful Tskhinvali, and it happened on the opening day
of the Olympic Games, and thus the Olympic truce declared by the UN
General Assembly was rudely trampled by [Georgian President Mikheil]
Saakashvili," Lavrov said.

The minister also responded to the statement about Moscow’s alleged
attempt to redraw the map of the region. "This map consists, among
other areas, of conflict zones, which are regulated by agreements,
one of the signatures under which was Georgia’s, and which Saakashvili
treacherously tore apart," Lavrov stressed.

The Russian foreign minister regards the admonitions made by the
British representative about democracy being suppressed in Russia
as ridiculous. "We know what the Saakashvili regime is, and how his
Western patrons forgive him everything: acts of provocation against
peacekeepers, dispersal of rallies, attacks on the opposition, and a
clampdown of the broadcasts of all Russian television channels since
the start of his aggression against South Ossetia," the minister
stressed.

Lavrov stressed that he did not agree with Miliband’s view that NATO
was "an anchor of stability, democracy and economic development". "I
have not heard about NATO’s being engaged in democratizing, but maybe
the times are changing," he said.

"I shall leave this without comment, as well as the assertion that
this is the price of division of Europe," Lavrov added. "It is the
totally unjustified and unfounded expansion of NATO that leads to
this division," the minister said.

The Russian foreign minister also drew attention to a number of factual
errors in Miliband’s information; the latter said that Russia had
blocked ports, tunnels and other infrastructure facilities in Georgia.

"God only knows where he got it from – all the more so that there
is evidence from journalists, international representatives and
civilians," Lavrov noted. "And when they say that they do not wish to
dwell on who started it first, we believe that prudery and hypocrisy
are out of place here with regard to those who were attacked in the
middle of the night," he said.

Lavrov stressed that Russia was committed to the six "Medvedev-
Sarkozy" principles, but in their original form. "The six ‘Medvedev-
Sarkozy’ principles are their common position which was addressed
to the parties in the conflict, namely to Georgia, South Ossetia and
Abkhazia; Russia is not a party in the conflict," he stressed.

The minister expressed regret with the fact that, after the principles
were signed, "constant redrawing of the text began". As a result,
he said, Saakashvili signed the letter addressed to him by Sarkozy,
"which has no legal or practical bearing" [as received]. The letter
itself was not shown to Russia, and Moscow only agreed to the message
to make it easier for Western partners to win Saakashvili over.

Speaking of the principles, Lavrov also noted gross distortion
of the final point, "ensuring the security of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia". "Saakashvili signed the text which speaks of the security
of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he added. "This, however, is no
longer of any importance because from now on, their security will
be safely ensured by their own forces and by Russian peacekeepers,"
Lavrov stressed.

The Russian Foreign Minister answered the questions posed by his
British opposite number in his speech. In particular, the latter
urged Russia to recognize Georgia’s territorial integrity. "We have
long recognized it, despite everything, even despite the violation of
the right of autonomous areas to determine their status," he recalled.

"It is the Georgian leaders, starting from Gamsakhurdia, who undermine
Georgia’s territorial integrity. As for Russia, it is absolutely
committed to the principle of territorial integrity of its neighbours,"
he added.

Miliband’ second call concerned the need to clarify the attitude of
the Russian Federation to the use of force. "We have stated on many
occasions that we are against the use of force in resolving conflicts,
be it in Yugoslavia, Iran, Iraq and the Middle East, [or] the Caucasus
region," he stressed.

The British colleague also asked for Russia’s attitude to long-
term economic interests to be clarified. "He suggests punishing us
but in such a way that the interests of Britain and other Western
countries are not hurt, which means that they will take [Russian]
gas but on the terms that they will themselves explain to Russia,"
was Lavrov’s interpretation of his words.

"Moreover, we have long been speaking of the need to create early
warning mechanisms, but we call for transit countries to be included
there too because all the problems with gas supplies to Europe always
arose because of them," the Russian Foreign Minister said.

The minister also responded to the call to review relations with Russia
at international institutions, including the G8 and the OECD. "Russia
is interested in partnership in exactly the same degree as our Western
colleagues are," the foreign minister stressed. He noted with regret
the recent trend of building a bloc against Russia, "even though we
had agreed to cooperate on the basis of one country – one vote".

Another of Miliband’s calls concerned the need for "the end of the
empire and peaceful settlement of conflicts in post-Soviet space,
including in the Dniester region and Nagornyy Karabakh". "Here I
would like to ease David’s worries: in neither case is Saakashvili the
principal player. In neither case are there deranged leaders striving
to settle the conflicts from the position of strength," Lavrov said.