http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={2C0AA2E1-0F69-4EEB-B0DC-6A0C5D9FE94 7})&language=EN
Prensa Latina September 11, 2008 Putin: Washington Behind Georgia Aggression Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denounced on Thursday the fact that the United States was the instigator of the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia. During a meeting with members of the Valdai International Debate Club, Putin said that instead of finding solutions to inter-ethnic contradictions, Washington simply incited Georgia to aggression. He added that the United States allocated substantial resources to train Tbilisi's armed forces and sent a large number of military trainers to Georgia. At the gathering of the RIA Novosti agency, the Foreign Policy and Defense Council, the Moscow News weekly and the Russia on Global Policy and Russia Profile magazines in the Black Sea city of Valdai, Putin warned that Moscow was forced to respond to the aggression. "Is it that the world community want destabilization in the North Caucasus or something?," he wondered. During the meeting, Putin denied that the Russian Federation was considering the eventual annexation of Abkazia and South Ossetia. He recalled that to avoid a massacre, the Kremlin started an operation to impose peace on Tbilisi, including 10,000 soldiers as a reinforcement of the peacekeeping contingent, which was protecting local residents. At least 600 civilians and more than 70 members of the peacekeeping contingent were killed in the Georgian attack against Tskhinvali and other towns. The Russian peacekeeping operation ended on August 12 with the invaders pullout, and on August 26 Moscow recognized independence of the two separatist republics. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "serbia" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/serbia -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
