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Medvedev reaches out to Hu amid Western anger

South Ossetians wave their flag in Tskhinvalion on Tuesday as they celebrate Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s recognition of the independence of the breakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. PHOTO: AP

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was to meet his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) yesterday as Moscow looked to bolster support in a diplomatic standoff with the West over its conflict with Georgia.

Western governments roundly condemned Russia’s decision to formally recognize the independence of the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Medvedev was to fly to the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan for talks with Hu on the eve of a regional summit today that officials have said could address the Georgia crisis.

Stepping up its criticism of Moscow, France said Russia was “outside international law,” with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner asserting the EU “cannot accept these violations.”

In a somber TV address on Tuesday, Medvedev announced he had signed decrees recognizing the independence of the two regions at the heart of the conflict that erupted this month in Georgia. The move was seen as cementing Russia’s military gains in the Caucasus following the five-day conflict with Georgian forces.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili assailed the Russian move as an “attempt to wipe Georgia from the map” and promised to wage a “peaceful struggle” to win back the territories.

US President George W. Bush called on Russia to reconsider the “irresponsible decision.”

But amid a hail of international criticism, Medvedev was unapologetic, saying: “We’re not afraid of anything.”

“We will do everything we can to avoid” a new Cold War, he said in an interview to French LCI television.

But, “If they want relations to worsen, they will get it,” he said.

In an unprecedented move for the Kremlin, Medvedev gave a string of interviews to Western media outlets to explain Russia’s actions, speaking to CNN, al-Jazeera and the Financial Times among others.

“The most important thing is to defend the rights of the people who live in South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” he told the BBC, hours after announcing recognition of the two regions’ independence.

Medvedev is to join leaders today for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement, a regional security group dominated by Russia and China that includes four former Soviet Central Asian countries. The group was set in 2001 as a counterweight to NATO’s influence in the strategic Central Asian region.

British Foreign Minister David Miliband was due to travel to Ukraine yesterday, which critics of Moscow fear is among the most exposed to an increasingly assertive Russian foreign policy.

In his televised address, Saakashvili shot back at Moscow and said his country would step up its campaign to join NATO.

Russia seeks to “break the Georgian state, undermine the fundamental values of Georgia and to wipe Georgia from the map,” he said.

“This is the first attempt in Europe after Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union to put a neighboring state on its knees and to change the borders of Europe by force,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russian warships arrived in Abkhazia yesterday after Moscow stepped up criticism of NATO naval movements in the region, news agencies reported, citing a top commander.

The ships are there to “support peace and stability in Abkhazia and in the republic’s territorial waters,” Deputy Admiral Sergei Menyailo was quoted as saying. “Our tasks include the control of Abkhazia’s territorial waters and the prevention of arms shipments” as well as delivering humanitarian aid.

The group of warships included the missile cruiser Moskva — the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet — despite an earlier report that it was due to return to its home port, Interfax and RIA Novosti reported.

Also See: Jittery Ukraine watches on as Russian ships return to Sevastopol
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