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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia accuses G7 of 'bias'
2008-08-30
Russia has accused the Group of Seven nations of "bias" in a new attempt to counter condemnation of Russia's actions in Georgia that has included talk of sanctions. Responding to a statement by G7 foreign ministers that condemned the Kremlin's decision to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia's foreign ministry said it was "biased and aimed at justifying the aggressive actions of Georgia".

Georgia's separatists

South Ossetia is a territory of about 70,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom are Orthodox Christians, located in the Caucasus mountains.

Referendums held in 1992 and again in 2006 demanded independence, but were not recognised internationally.

Abkhazia has about 250,000 inhabitants, most of whom have a Russian passport. The region makes up about 12 per cent of Georgian territory and the majority of Abkhazians are Muslim.

Abkhazia unilaterally proclaimed its independence in July 1992 and separatists pushed Georgian troops from the Kodori Gorge on August 12, 2008 - the only part of the region Georgia had controlled.
But a senior French diplomat has been quick to assure that the EU would not pass sanctions against Russia at Monday's EU summit meeting on the Georgia crisis. "The time to pass sanctions has certainly not come," the diplomat, who did not want to be named, said.

European diplomats said that Moscow had sent a clear signal it would retaliate if the EU imposed sanctions to punish the Kremlin for its intervention in Georgia at an emergency summit next week.

A day earlier, in a sign of growing Russian frustration with Western criticism, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia, and linked the row to Russia's cooperation with the West on issues like trade and nuclear non-proliferation.

Moscow has expressed alarm at what it calls a Western naval build-up in the Black Sea, an area normally dominated by its own southern fleet.

Russia mounted a huge counter-attack on land, sea and air after Georgia sent in troops in a failed attempt to retake its breakaway region of South Ossetia three weeks ago. The Kremlin said it acted to prevent Georgia wiping out the South Ossetian population but Western states accused Russia of using excessive force.

They are also concerned that the presence of Russian troops deep inside Georgia could compromise the Nato aspirant's role as a transit route for oil and gas supplies between the Caspian Sea and world markets.
Posted by:Fred

#1  Bias against what? Against thugs? Yep.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon   2008-08-30 08:36  

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