Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Sept 5 2008

Russian allies condemn Georgia

Russia has won the support of six former Soviet nations over its war
in Georgia during a meeting of member countries of the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Moscow.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said that the leaders of CSTO
nations signed a declaration on Friday condemning an attack by Georgia
which was aimed at regaining control of its breakaway province of
South Ossetia.

Members of the group said they were "deeply concerned about an attempt
by Georgia to solve the conflict in South Ossetia by force, which has
led to numerous casualties among the civilian population and
peacekeepers and entailed grave humanitarian consequences," the
declaration said.

The declaration said there is a need to "ensure firm security for
South Ossetia and Abkhazia," the two breakaway Georgian provinces
whose independence Moscow has recognised.

But the six members of the CSTO, other than Russia, – Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan ` did not
say they would formally recognise the two provinces.

‘Show of support’

The joint statement condemning Georgia’s attack was a boost for the
Kremlin, which has struggled to win international support for its
invasion of Georgia after Tbilisi tried to assert control over South
Ossetia on August 7.

Russia’s relations with the West have deteriorated sharply as a result
of the invasion and only a few countries such as Cuba and Venezuela,
have backed Russia’s position.

The CSTO declaration came after Dick Cheney, the US vice-president,
visited Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine in a show of support to their
pro-Western governments.

Russia responded to Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia by sending
troops into the country, where they quickly defeated the Georgian
military.

‘Disproportionate attack’

The US and European Union nations have condemned the Russian attack as
"disproportionate" and strongly urged Moscow to withdraw its troops
from the Georgian territory.

Russia has said that US military assistance to Georgia over the past
several years had encouraged Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia’s president,
to launch the attack on South Ossetia.

In an apparent reference to a $1bn aid package announced by
Washington, Medvedev on Friday warned against providing more
assistance to Georgia.

"We don’t want Georgia, which acted as the aggressor, to continue to
arm itself in an uncontrolled way and with unknown aims and completely
unclear consequences," he said.

A US Navy ship anchored outside the key Georgian port of Poti on
Friday, delivering tonnes of humanitarian aid to a city still partly
occupied by hundreds of Russian troops.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress