SANCTION WATCH: RUSSIA DECLARES GEORGIA A DOMESTIC AFFAIR
Vladimir Solovyev; Dmitry Sidorov, Washington
Kommersant, Russia
Oct 4 2006
The United States and European Union called on Russia yesterday to
lift its sanctions against Georgia, saying that, now that the Russian
officers arrested have been returned to Russia, the incident should
be considered over. Russian officials responded that all measures
against Tbilisi will remain in force and the West should not interfere
in Russian-Georgian relations.
Russia Responds
Russia began a new diplomatic attack on Georgia yesterday. A draft
resolution was introduced By Moscow in the UN Security Council to
demand that the importance of the role of Russian peacekeepers in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia be confirmed and Georgian actions against
them condemned. The document also demands that Tbilisi "refrain from
combative rhetoric and prevocational actions."
Russia tried to use the United Nations to pressure Georgia last
week as well. On Friday, a statement by the chairman of the Security
Council was drafted that condemned Georgian authorities’ treatment of
the Russian officers. However, the United States blocked discussion
of the statement. Russia persisted and the document was put up
for an open vote in the Security Council a week later. Obviously,
the resolution will fail because of an American veto. But Moscow is
forcing Washington to show its support for Georgia openly.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a special press conference
yesterday on the Russian-Georgian conflict, at which he accused
the West of provoking the current crisis. "The latest prank with
the seizure of our officers took place right after NATO’s decision
to present Georgia with a plan for intensive cooperation and after
[Georgian President] Mikhail Nikolaevich [Saakashvili’s] visit to the
U.S.," Lavrov observed. "That’s how it was chronologically: the trip
to Washington, the NATO decision, the taking of hostages."
According to Lavorv, all of Georgia’s recent aggressions against Russia
were sanctioned by Saakashvili’s Western protectors. "We repeatedly
called the danger of dallying with the Saakashvili regime…
to the attention of those who are supplying weapons to Georgia
and who are not allowing a decision to be made in the UN Security
Council," he said, and then went on to advise the West to stay out
of Russian-Georgian relations, saying "I do not see any need to draw
intermediaries into issues that concern Russian-Georgian relations.
Third parties have already interfered and that had brought only harm."
In a rebuke to the U.S., Lavrov announced that , in spite of the
return of the Russian officers to their homeland, Russia does not
intend to soften its position or cal off the sanctions brought against
Georgia. "The Georgian leadership must understand that it cannot offend
Russia while thousands of Georgian citizens are working and feeding
their families here. You can’t feed off of Russia and offend it,"
Lavrov said.
Lavrov’s statement means that the punitive retaliatory measures brought
by Moscow against Tbilisi will only become harsher. The Russian State
Duma is expected to pass a special statement on Georgia before the
end of this week that will be unprecedented in its harshness. A draft
of that document made public by Duma deputy speaker Sergey Baburin
reads that "Russia has the right to take measures of force in the
event that anti-Russian actions by Georgian authorities continue."
At the same time, the Russian Federal Migration Service has thrown
all its efforts into blocking ay access to Russia by Georgian
citizens. Deputy director of the service Mikhail Tyurkin reported
that Russia is discussing the possibility of Belarus imposing a visa
procedure for Georgia. There is a visa procedure between Russia and
Georgia, but not between Georgia and Belarus. "That way," Tyurkin
noted, "Georgian citizens arrive in Belarus, catch a train and come
to Russia. We are discussing that problem and I think everything will
be settled in the near future."
Besides fighting Georgian illegal immigrations and imposing a transport
blockade, Moscow has other sensitive means of pressuring Georgia. It
can turn to the tried and true method of using energy by raising
the prices electricity and natural gas to Georgia. Kommersant has
also learned that Russia may reconsider the prices on a number of
essential goods, such as grain, for Georgia.
Their Advice
Russia is turning up the pressure of Georgia just as the West
is demanding that the new sanctions be lifted. U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried
spoke recently about what Washington thinks of the Russian-Georgian
conflict. At a press conference held immediately after the plane with
the Russian officers released by Georgia reached Moscow, Fried stated
that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had personally reached an
agreement with the Georgian president and Russian foreign minister on
their release. The American also hinted that the incident should now
be considered finished. "Arrests on espionage charges have happened
before in the world and will most likely happen again in the future.
It is important not to let incidents like that get out of control,"
he said.
The European Union also tried to calm Russia down. European
Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy
Benita Ferrero-Waldner urged Moscow to call off its economic blockade
of Georgia, saying that "sanctions are a path to nowhere." NATO has
also taken Georgia’s side. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted a
resolution supporting Georgia’s effort to become a NATO member, saying
that it "should be encouraged and supported. Membership in NATO should
be open to those who show a commitment to the values of the alliance."
The West’s moral support has inspired Georgian authorities to keep up
the fight. Tbilisi intends to appeal against about the closing off
of air connections between Georgia and Russia to the International
Civil Aviation Organization. "We are appealing a political decision
that was made by the Russian leadership," reads a statement by the
Gruzaeronavigatsia.
Georgian politicians are trying to emphasize their victory in the
standoff with Moscow. Konstantin Gabashvili, chairman of the Georgian
parliament’s committee on foreign relations, stated that the arrest
of the Russian officers in Georgia will speed up the closure of
Russian military bases in Georgia. "It is the failure of [Russian
Defense Minister] Sergey Ivanov," he explained. "It seems he has
very bad intelligence agents. This will affect his image, which has
enormous meaning before the presidential elections." He attributed a
diplomatic defeat to Lavrov as well, saying, "Georgia’s advancement
to an intensive dialog with NATO, the issue of financial support for
that dialog from the U.S. Senate, UN resolutions – all of those are
defeats. That is what the hysteria is related to."
The Georgian Defense Ministry announced new rules yesterday for the
transportation on Georgian territory of military cargo and personnel
from the Russian base at Gyumri, Armenia. Now the transport of
Russian military personnel is only possible after the Georgian Defense
Ministry approves it. Thus, Tbilisi has risen to Moscow’s challenge,
and continues to move toward increasing tensions despite everything.