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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Sarkozy to Moscow, France Foreign Minister in Georgia |
| 2008-08-11 |
| FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Moscow early in the coming week for talks with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev over the fighting in Georgia, the Kremlin and the Elysee said today. Good -- the French are stepping up..... but, it still felt good last night, watching our swim team beat them after all the "trash" talking! Mr Medvedev and Mr Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, held a telephone conversation in which they "agreed to continue discussions in Moscow", the Kremlin press service said, quoted by Interfax. The French president's office said Mr Sarkozy would visit Moscow "in the coming days" to confer with Mr Medvedev. Mr Sarkozy said today there was hope of quickly ending the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. "Following the withdrawal of Georgian troops from South Ossetia, the president of the republic believes there is a real perspective of rapidly finding a way out of the crisis," the presidency said. The French presidency said Mr Sarkozy "intends to pursue contacts with both (Georgian and Russian) presidents in the coming hours, to bring their positions closer together and create the conditions to end the crisis". French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Tbilisi overnight and was due to travel to Moscow tomorrow on a mission to mediate in the conflict on behalf of the European Union which is currently presided over by France. Hummm he got there pretty fast. Impressive He was to submit a three-point peace plan to both sides, based on "an immediate cessation of hostilities; the full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia" and "the re-establishment of the situation that existed before". |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #8 Interesting that President Sarkozy will meet with President Medvedev, and not Prime Minister Putin, the one who masterminded the current situation. The French fancy themselves subtle diplomats -- what subtlety am I missing here? Sarkozy and Medvedev, as presidents, are heads of state. Diplomatic protocol is pretty clear that heads of state meet each other. Vlad is now "only" a head of government. If Sarkozy and Putin do not meet later, that would probably meet both mens' objectives: To the French, it would be presented as a "snub" to Putin, for Putin, he would appear "tough" to his ultra-nationalistic supporters. |
| Posted by: mrp 2008-08-11 16:15 |
| #7 Interesting that President Sarkozy will meet with President Medvedev, and not Prime Minister Putin, the one who masterminded the current situation. The French fancy themselves subtle diplomats -- what subtlety am I missing here? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-11 16:03 |
| #6 Yes, and in 1962, the Red Army fired on Ukrainian workers during the Novocherkassk protests. Aleksandr Solzhenitsn claimed that wounded laborers were exiled to Siberia. |
| Posted by: mrp 2008-08-11 14:38 |
| #5 both america and france have traditions of accepting immigrants (not changed by the greater difficulty France has had lately in assimilating its immigrants) |
| Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer 2008-08-11 14:37 |
| #4 Interview on BBC this am where the reporter says he was with Bernard Kouchner and Georgian Prez in Gori when Russian planes tried to attack them. No explanation as to how they avoided attack. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-08-11 14:35 |
| #3 Hungarian... Hungary 1956. Yep. he has some history of what tSoviet Russia has done in the past. Different labvle now, but same ketchup. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-11 14:30 |
| #2 Remember - Sarkozy's also Hungarian as well as French. Sort of like Obama is "of the world" as well as American. |
| Posted by: Whomong Trotsky9555 2008-08-11 14:10 |
| #1 If he can pull off the status quo ante, then he is a master diplomat. I''d add a thrid condition though: International peacekeepers, not Russian ones. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-11 13:44 |