Russia's Moves Add To Strains With Georgia
Buildup in Separatist Area Follows Downing of Drone

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, May 1, 2008

MOSCOW, April 30 -- Long-standing tensions between Russia and Georgia over two separatist regions in Georgia have flared dangerously in recent days with each country accusing the other of provocative actions that risk war.

Russia moved troops and armor into Abkhazia this week to respond to what officials here said was a Georgian military buildup along the unofficial border with the breakaway region of the Caucasus republic.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the deployment was allowed under a 1994 cease-fire that stationed Russian troops in the region to prevent the kind of fighting that broke out between Georgia and separatists after the fall of the Soviet Union. Both Abkhazia and the region of South Ossetia have been de facto independent since breaking from Georgian control in the early 1990s.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any Georgian military action would lead to "retaliatory actions," but stressed at a meeting with European Union ministers Tuesday that Russia "isn't planning to go to war."

Georgia, which denied bolstering its military forces on the border with Abkhazia, accused Russia of deliberately escalating tensions. And it said any change in Russian troop levels must be approved by Georgia, a position endorsed by NATO officials Wednesday.

"The government of Georgia strongly condemns this act of aggression disguised as a peacekeeping operation," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Tuesday.

The government in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, has been at odds with Moscow over Georgia's desire to join NATO.

"In the political reality, this is not easing tensions, it is raising tensions," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said Wednesday of the Russian move. Appathurai spoke to reporters in Brussels, where ambassadors from NATO's member states met with Russia's representative, Dmitry Rogozin.

Appathurai said there was "a clear and sometimes sharp exchange of views, but absolutely no meeting of the minds" at the session.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the United States was "concerned about reports from the region."

Relations between Russia and Georgia, always fraught, plummeted early this month after President Vladimir Putin said he intended "to further broaden and deepen multifaceted practical cooperation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia for the good of their people."

The declaration infuriated Georgia, which saw it as another step by Moscow to bolster a drive by separatists for independence or to absorb the two generally pro-Russia regions. Russians are now investing heavily in Abkhazia and most of the people there have obtained Russian passports.

Georgian residents of Abkhazia largely fled or were driven from their homes by ethnic Abkhaz in the 1990s. But Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Tuesday night in a televised address that he is determined to peacefully reassert the country's sovereignty and reintegrate the two separatist areas.

Last week, tension intensified further when an unmanned Georgian reconnaissance plane was shot down over Abkhazia by what Georgian officials said was a Russian MiG-29 fighter.

Russian officials denied any involvement. Rogozin, the representative to NATO, said Wednesday that Georgian officials doctored the videotape they released to accuse Russia of the shoot-down. Other Russian officials said the drone was operating illegally over the breakaway region and was shot down by the Abkhaz.

Rogozin also suggested this week that a MiG-29 belonging to a NATO member might have downed the Georgian spy plane. NATO countries such as Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria still operate MiG fighters.

Appathurai said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer remarked that "he'd eat his tie if it turned out that a NATO MiG-29 had magically appeared in Abkhazia and shot down a Georgian drone."

Georgia this week also threatened to block Russian membership in the World Trade Organization in retaliation for Moscow's recent actions, particularly Putin's decision to step up ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgia, a member of the 151-nation group, said it had cut off talks with Russia over membership. Aspiring members can be vetoed by any existing member. Georgia is also smarting from a Russian ban on the import of Georgian wines, mineral water and vegetables.

Talks will resume when Moscow reverses its move toward new ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, according to officials in Tbilisi.

"You can believe me: There will be no step forward on Russia's entry to the WTO until Russia reconsiders its decision," said Georgia's acting foreign minister, Grigol Vashadze, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.