NATO hopes Russia will lift sanctions on Georgia
Source: Reuters
(Recasts, adds comments, details) By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Oct 26 (Reuters) - NATO's secretary-general expressed hope on Thursday that Russia would lift sanctions imposed on Georgia after a spy row that has pushed relations to their lowest level in more than a decade. After talks with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called on Moscow and Tbilisi not to step up the conflict and said the problem of Georgia's rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia must be solved peacefully. "It is important for ... the two parties ... to show restraint, moderation and de-escalation," he told a news conference. "I hope that in this framework it will also be possible that some of the measures that had been taken in this conflict by the Russian Federation could be lifted." Russia, enraged by Georgia's brief detention of four Russian army officers on spying charges last month, cut rail, air and postal links with the small Caucasus nation and stopped issuing entry visas to Georgians. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, propelled to power in 2003 "Rose Revolution" protests, says his nation is being punished by the Kremlin for its aspirations to join NATO and move closer to the European Union and United States. Saakashvili has also vowed to regain control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which get financial and moral backing from Russia. Putin said on Wednesday he was alarmed that Georgia would solve its separatist problems by force. Pro-Moscow South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away after wars in the early 1990s. Russia has been issuing its passports to local residents. "The NATO allies are of the opinion that for the problems in Abkhazia and South Ossetia a peaceful solution will have to be found," de Hoop Scheffer said. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, a key Putin ally, said "unpredictable consequences" could flow from attempts by Georgian leaders to impose a settlement. Georgia says Moscow is continuing to support the rebel regions as a lever to scuttle a possible bid to join NATO. NATO foreign ministers have offered Georgia an "intensified dialogue" which can lead to alliance membership, but does not make it automatic. Russia authorities have deported hundreds of ethnic Georgians in cargo planes, describing them as illegal migrants, in what rights groups have denounced as a xenophobic campaign. In Strasbourg, the European Parliament called on Russia to halt measures aimed at Georgia and Georgians on its soil, and to stop supporting separatists. A resolution urged Moscow to back multilateral efforts to resolve conflicts in its neighbourhood. (Additional reporting by Mark John in Brussels)
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
