MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev recognized the independence of two breakaway regions of Georgia on Tuesday and called on other nations to do the same, escalating what has become one of the most serious conflicts between Russia and the United States since the end of the Cold War.
President Bush on Tuesday urged Russia to reÂconsider its “irresponsible decision” and respect the borders of its Georgian neighbor.
“Russia’s action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations,” the president said in a statement from Texas, where he is vacationing.
Russia’s reasoning
Medvedev said he signed decrees recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia because it was the “only way to protect people’s lives.” He said Russia had tried for years to resolve the ethnic conflict between Georgia and the two provinces through peaceful negotiations but Georgia’s pro-Western president, Mikheil Saakashvili, made a negotiated settlement impossible by trying to seize South Ossetia by military force and killing its residents.
The Georgian government “made its choice in the early hours of August 8,” he said, referring to a military operation launched by Saakashvili to try to quell a separatist movement in South Ossetia.
The move prompted a five-day Russian incursion deep into Georgian territory beginning Aug. 7.
“Saakashvili chose genocide for resolving his political problems. Saakashvili has thus killed every hope for peaceful co-existence of Ossetians, Abkhazians and Georgians within one country,” Medvedev said.
White House response
Bush shot back that Russia’s move violates both United Nations resolutions and the six-point cease-fire deal that Russia, under Medvedev’s watch, signed with Georgia to end a war.
“We expect Russia to live up to its international commitments, reconsider this irresponsible decision, and follow the approach set out (in the cease-fire deal),” Bush said.
The White House says the U.S. will use its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to ensure that the two separatist provinces remain part of Georgia in the eyes of the world.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that any push by Russia to do otherwise will be “dead on arrival” at the United Nations.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. is looking at a variety of options to respond.
“We’re not trying to escalate anything,” Wood said when asked whether disagreement between the West and Russia would jeopardize international cooperation. But, he added, “We obviously can’t allow what Russia’s done to go without there being some consequences.”
He would not provide details about possible punishment the U.S. is considering.
The European Union also said the two breakaway regions should remain part of Georgia, and a senior Georgian official warned that a Russian move to recognize the provinces could lead again to war.
Republican Sen. John McCain’s wife was in Georgia on Tuesday, visiting refugee centers filled with ethnic Georgians who fled villages and neighborhoods in South Ossetia.
“The only place these people want to be is home, and they can’t go home because of what has happened to them,” Cindy McCain said in brief remark.
Missile shield threat
Separately, Medvedev warned Tuesday that his country may offer a military response to a U.S. missile shield in Europe. He said the deployment of an anti-missile system close to Russian borders “will of course create additional tensions.”
“We will have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way,” Medvedev was quoted as saying Tuesday by the RIA-Novosti news agency.
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