Moscow refuses to budge as US sends in navy

Published on Sunday 24 August 2008 22:01

A UNITED States warship delivered humanitarian aid to Georgia yesterday, as Moscow ignored new western demands to pull its remaining troops out of the Caucasus country's heartland.

Russia says the soldiers are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and to protect Georgia's separatist, pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But in a sign of simmering tensions, a fuel train exploded on Georgia's main east-west rail line, near the central town of Gori, after apparently hitting a landmine.

Lado Gurgenidze, Georgia's prime minister, said the damaged rail link was vital to the economy of Georgia and its neighbours; officials in Azerbaijan said oil cargoes were being held up at the Georgian border following the explosion.

Meanwhile, in Batumi, 50 miles south of the port of Poti where Russian troops are still present, a giant crane unloaded 55 tonnes of aid from the US destroyer McFaul.

The warship is fitted with an array of weaponry, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads, and a sophisticated radar system.

General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of Russia's general staff, suggested the arrival of the McFaul and other Nato members' ships would increase tensions in the Black Sea. Russia shares the sea with Nato members Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Georgia and Ukraine, whose pro-western president also is leading a drive for Nato membership.

Two other US ships also are due in Batumi: the US has already delivered some aid by military cargo plane, but is now shipping in beds and food.

David Kezerashvili, Georgia's defence minister, said: "The United States is our great friend. They have arrived at such a difficult time. It means we are not alone."

The Russia-Georgia conflict erupted just over two weeks ago after Tbilisi tried to retake South Ossetia. A Russian counter- offensive pushed into Georgia proper, crossing its main east-west highway. Russian troops also moved into western Georgia from Abkhazia, another breakaway region on the Black Sea. Hundreds were killed, tens of thousands displaced and housing and infrastructure wrecked in the fighting.

The US and Europe fear a continued Russian presence will cement Georgia's ethnic partition, undermine the president Mikheil Saakashvili's pro-western government and threaten vital energy pipelines criss-crossing the country.

Russia's action has also unnerved other former Soviet republics. Moscow sees these as part of its legitimate sphere of influence and opposes their Nato applications, but the US envoy to the Caucasus said Russia's action had inadvertently helped Georgia's bid to join the alliance.

In Georgia, the West is particularly worried about a Russian checkpoint set up at Poti, hundreds of kilometres from South Ossetia and outside the security zone Russia says is covered by its peacekeeping mandate.

Underscoring the potential for renewed violence, Russian soldiers manning a checkpoint on the road between Zugdidi and Senaki in western Georgia fired shots in the air to disperse a protest by angry residents. No injuries were reported.

Russia has deployed its "peacekeepers" in the Poti area and in a buffer zone outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, saying they are allowed under the terms of a French-brokered ceasefire deal. But France has urged Moscow to order its forces out of Poti as soon as possible.

Though not Georgia's busiest port for oil, Poti can load up to 100,000 barrels per day of oil products, which arrive by rail from Azerbaijan. It is also the gateway for merchandise moving to Georgia, other Caucasus republics and Central Asia.

The French president Nicolas Sarkozy's office said he and Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart, had agreed on Saturday on the need for an international mechanism under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to replace Russian patrols in a buffer zone south of South Ossetia. However, the Kremlin said replacing Russian peacekeepers had not been discussed.