President Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have accused Russia of not abiding by the ceasefire agreement with Georgia. The agreement brokered by the French President was intended to have Russia completely pull all of its troops out of Georgia. However, it is believed that Russia is not in compliance with the ceasefire agreement because they have setup checkpoints and buffer zones in the war torn country. The Russians claim that they are only leaving a peacekeeping force in place to protect against any further violence by the Georgian military.
According to Gordon Johndroe, a Whitehouse spokesman, the buffer zones and checkpoints were not a part of the ceasefire agreement. However, according to some officials the wording in the ceasefire agreement is unclear. It is likely that the United Nations will have to mediate this matter and decide whether or not Russian troops must leave the region. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Russia will comply and the Russian government has taken on the label of liberator for the contested towns of South Ossetia, and Gori.
There are conflicting reports in Georgia from town to town where in some places the Russians had removed their barriers and the Georgian police had taken over. Yet in some other towns, such as Korvaleti, Russian troops are still keeping the Georgian police out of the area. News reports have come out that the Russians expect the Georgian military to try and make another push into the region to take over the towns. However, one must wonder what kind of mindset the Georgian President may have considering how quickly the Russian military had put the Georgian forces down and how much loss of life there was in so short a time.
It is clear that Georgia is an ally of the United States and is to become a member nation of NATO. So does this mean that Georgia is expecting the United States and NATO to step in and join in their war against Russia? It is possible, although not very probable that the United States would want to entangle itself into a war with Moscow given the present administrations aspirations of war against Iran. The only reason that could see that the US would back Georgia’s plans would be to keep Russia busy so that Iran has no protector against a US invasion.
Again, possible, but not very likely considering the technological advantage Russia has over many of its neighbors. This gives Moscow the power to quickly put down any attacks or insurgencies. It is not clear as to what if any consequences Russia might face if they fail to comply with the ceasefire agreement. It is likely that this will be a long drawn out conflict that will eventually lead to nothing but another sore spot for Russia and US’s deteriorating relations.
Sources
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7578007.stm