A US military ship docked at a southern Georgian port on Wednesday, and Russia sent a missile cruiser and two other ships to another Georgian port in a show of force amid an escalating standoff with the West over a nation devastated by war with Russia.
The dockings came a day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recognised the two Georgian rebel territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, prompting harsh criticism from Western nations. Georgia reacted on Wednesday by recalling all but two diplomats from its embassy in Moscow.
The US Coast Guard cutter Dallas, carrying 34 tons of humanitarian aid, docked in the Black Sea port of Batumi, south of the zone of this month’s fighting between Russia and Georgia. The arrival in Batumi avoided Georgia’s main cargo port of Poti, which is still controlled by Russian soldiers.
The US Embassy in Georgia had earlier said the ship was headed to Poti, but then retracted its statement. Zaza Gogava, head of Georgia’s joint forces command, said the port in Poti could have been mined by Russian forces and still contained several Georgian ships sunken in the fighting.
Poti’s port reportedly suffered heavy damage from the Russian military. In addition, Russian troops have established checkpoints on the northern approach to the city and a US ship docking there could have been seen as a direct challenge. Meanwhile, the Russian missile cruiser Moskva and two smaller missile boats anchored at the port in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, some 180 miles north of Batumi. The Russian Navy says the ships will be involved in peacekeeping operations.
Although Western nations have called the Russian military presence in Poti a clear violation of a European Union-brokered cease-fire, a top Russian general has called the US practice of using warships to deliver aid “devilish.”
Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn warned that Nato has already exhausted the number of forces it can have in the Black Sea, according to international agreements, and warned Western nations against sending more ships.
“Can Nato which is not a state located in the Black Sea continuously increase its group of forces and systems there? It turns out that it cannot,” Nogovitsyn was quoted as saying on Wednesday by the Interfax news agency.
Many of the Russian forces that drove deep into Georgia after fighting broke out Aug. 7 in South Ossetia have pulled back, but hundreds are estimated to still be manning checkpoints that Russia calls “security zones” inside Georgia proper. Western leaders have assailed Russia for violating Georgia’s territorial sovereignty.
“We cannot accept these violations of international law… of a territory by the army of a neighbouring country,” said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Medvedev in a phone call Wednesday to immediately fulfil the EU cease-fire by pulling all troops out of Georgia _ the accord requires both countries to withdraw to positions held before Aug. 7.
Georgia informed Russia it would pull most of its diplomats from its embassy in Moscow, leaving one envoy and another staffer, Georgian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nato Chikovani said. A Georgian Embassy staff list names 14 diplomats.
“Georgia will bring its diplomatic relations with Russia to the minimum,” government minister Timur Yakobashvili said. He said Georgia was not now considering breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia but could do so if tensions worsen.
Yakobashvili said the embassy’s consular service would continue to operate because many Georgian citizens lived in Russia. Repeated phone calls to the embassy went unanswered. The missile destroyer USS McFaul was in Batumi from Sunday to Tuesday, delivering 34 tons of humanitarian aid, and US officials said it would remain in the Black Sea area for now.
The United States and other Western countries have given substantial military aid to Georgia, angering Russia, which regards Georgia as part of its historical sphere of influence. Russia also has complained bitterly about aspirations by Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato.