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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| U.N. calls second session on Georgia violence |
| 2008-08-10 |
| Diplomats called for a second emergency session of the United Nations Security Council seeking to prevent an all-out war between Russia, Georgia and the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. This time it was Georgia's turn to ask that the 15-nation council meet. Russia had called a meeting that began at 11 p.m. Thursday (0300 GMT Friday) in New York, but after three hours there was no consensus on Russia's proposed council statement. A short time later, Russia sent tanks into the separatist province in a furious response to Georgian troops launching a major military offensive to regain control of the region. The United States said it supports its ally Georgia's territorial integrity, called for an immediate cease-fire, and sent a U.S. envoy in hopes of ending the hostilities. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Friday that France, as president of the European Union Council, "calls on all parties immediately to cease hostilities and resume the negotiations, the only way of finding a way out of the crisis." The United States had objected to the Russian-drafted council statement because it didn't make it clear that the renunciation of force should apply to all parties -- meaning Russia -- and not just Georgia and South Ossetia, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Can the 'strongly-worded statement' be very far away? |
| Posted by: Thromoth Sinatra9263 2008-08-10 09:26 |