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Georgia calls for ceasefire amid escalating conflict

A column of Russian armored vehicles is seen on their way to Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, Georgia, on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

Georgia told the Russian ambassador yesterday that it had ceased fire in the Tskhinvali region of breakaway South Ossetia and was ready for immediate negotiations with Moscow on a "termination of hostilities."

The note said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had signed an order to Georgian forces to cease fire at 5am, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

Georgia expressed readiness to begin immediate negotiations with Russia on a full ceasefire agreement and “termination of hostilities.” It also said it had withdrawn most of its troops from South Ossetia.

However, a Russian foreign ministry official told Interfax that Georgian forces were continuing to fight yesterday despite a claim by Georgia’s foreign ministry that a ceasefire had been ordered.

Russian troops took the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, yesterday after a three-day battle.

The US warned Moscow that any further military escalation in Georgia could have a “significant, long-term impact” on relations. It called on Russia and Georgia to cease hostilities and return to their pre-conflict positions.

There was strong international condemnation after Georgia claimed that Russian jets had bombed near its capital Tbilisi for the first time, targeting a military airfield.

But as diplomatic efforts intensified to bring an end to the crisis, officials in Tbilisi said Moscow had begun bombing Georgian territory in and around another restive province, Abkhazia.

Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili told journalists that Georgia’s western city of Zugdidi was being bombed and that Russian battleships had been moved to the nearby Black Sea.

“Zugdidi is now being bombed,” Yakobashvili said at a press briefing.

There was no confirmation from Moscow about action near Abkhazia. Russian officials said they were in control of Tskhinvali but added that Georgia still had about 7,400 servicemen, 100 tanks and artillery pieces in the area.

Reporters witnessed Russian attack helicopters hovering over the area near Tskhinvali and a stream of people were fleeing the devastation carrying their belongings.

“We’re being driven away. The place was in flames and we couldn’t stay,” Pavlik, an elderly man traveling by foot, said as he fled the conflict zone.

Russia puts the death toll from hostilities that broke out last week at 2,000 while Georgia estimates range from 92 to 150.

Russia backs the separatist government in South Ossetia and sent in tanks and troops on Friday in response to pro-Western Georgia’s military offensive to take back the province, which broke away in the early 1990s after a separatist war.

The movement of Russia’s naval fleet from their base in Ukraine to positions near Georgia also threatened to destabilize the region.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry threatened to prevent the warships from returning to their base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

The announcement could affect Russian-Ukrainian relations, already strained by energy disputes and Ukraine’s plans to join NATO.

A Russian press report claimed the battleships were preparing to implement a sea blockade on Georgia, but this was denied in Moscow.

EU foreign ministers will hold a crisis meeting to discuss the bloc’s response to conflict in the Caucasus on Wednesday in Brussels, an EU source said.

At the request of Poland, the EU presidency said it may subsequently convene an emergency European Council summit gathering heads of government and state.

The UN Security Council was scheduled to reconvene at 11am yesterday for consultations, the UN press office said.
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