Bush Questions Moscow's Motives

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Russian Military Presence Remains in Georgia

Russian forces showed signs of withdrawal in some areas of Georgia, but announced plans to strengthen their presence in others, two weeks after conflict began on Aug. 8.

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Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin shot back that "our American colleagues feel a certain responsibility" for encouraging Saakashvili to take on Russian forces. He described Khalilzad's revelations as "Leninist diplomacy" and told the council yesterday that Russia did not intend to overthrow Saakashvili, the administration's closest ally in the Caucasus region. But he later told reporters it was "no secret . . . that we cannot do business with him."

The Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns weighed in yesterday on the crisis, with both candidates taking a hard line to shore up their foreign policy credentials. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) declared, as Bush did several hours later, that "Russian actions, in clear violation of international law, have no place in 21st-century Europe."

McCain offered no prescriptions beyond those efforts already underway by the administration and Europe. He urged the United Nations to condemn Russia, saying a resolution by the Security Council would at least "submit Russia to the court of world public opinion."

McCain said Georgia's democratic accomplishments made "Russia's recent actions against the Georgians all the more alarming. In the face of Russian aggression, the very existence of independent Georgia -- and the survival of its democratically elected government -- are at stake."

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the presumptive Democratic nominee, said that "no matter how this conflict started, Russia has escalated it well beyond the dispute over South Ossetia and invaded another country. . . . There is no possible justification for these attacks."

Obama called for Russia to accept the French-authored peace plan and for "the United States, Europe and all other concerned countries to stand united in condemning this aggression." While Russia should return to its pre-conflict military posture, he said, "we cannot tolerate the unacceptable status quo that led to this escalation."

He supported the deployment of a "genuine international peacekeeping force" to replace previously stationed Russian peacekeepers who have joined the invading force. He also urged Georgia to "refrain from using force" in the separatist regions -- the provocation Moscow has cited for its own use of force.

"The relationship between Russia and the West is long and complicated," Obama said. "There have been many turning points, for good and ill. This is another turning point."

Experts stressed the lengthy buildup of tensions between Russia and Georgia. "All Western governments were really caught off balance here, even though it was not a surprise," said Stephen Sestanovich, a Russia expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The senior administration official stressed the administration's efforts in recent months to warn both sides against escalation. "In June, incidents began to occur in South Ossetia," he said. By last week, "the Russians approached us with some concern, asking us to restrain Georgia. We and the Russians had what appeared to be a collaborative effort." He said that Russia "promised it would ask the South Ossetians to stand back" and that the administration was "unambiguous" in urging Georgia not to provoke Moscow.

"Last week those efforts fell apart," said the official, who was authorized to speak with reporters only on background.

Russia had "planned this for some time," the official said. "Their intentions are not clear, but their stated intentions to protect South Ossetia are not credible. . . . This appears to be a full invasion of Georgia, with an end result uncertain."

While "in the short run Russia has a lot of military advantages," he said, "that kind of brutal militarization of one's relations usually doesn't pay off. The history of the Soviet Union ought to be instructive to the people of the Kremlin."

But the official rebuffed all questions about future policy. "What I will not do, but I or someone else will come back to at a future point, pretty soon, is to talk about the U.S. response," he said.

Staff writers Colum Lynch at the United Nations and Dan Eggen, Michael D. Shear and Josh White in Washington contributed to this report.