Digest
Digest: Breakaway region asks Russia to recognize independence
(CNN) – One of Georgia’s breakaway regions has asked Russia to recognize independence, according to a report by the Russian news agency Interfax. →
Digest: Financial Times on NATO crisis meeting in Brussels
In the latest expression of western anger over Russia’s assault to drive Georgian forces from South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia, Nato foreign ministers told Moscow to expect a deterioration in relations. →
New York Times: Russia Blockades Port in Georgia and Seizes Soldiers
Russia showed the first signs of drawing down at least some of its troops in Georgia on Tuesday, but in a pointed reminder of their continued grip on the country, its forces bound and blindfolded 21 Georgian soldiers at the Black Sea port of Poti on Tuesday, displaying them along with five seized American Humvees. →
Дайджест: Росія не отримає користі від своєї агресії
The invasion of Georgia was entirely unjustified - and we will strengthen support for its wish to join Nato
David Miliband
AFP: No sign of large-scale Russian withdrawal
By Bertrand de Saisset
There was no sign here Monday of a massive Russian force withdrawal from Georgia although Russia media reported that an expected pullout of personnel and weaponry had begun. →
Sunday Times: David Cameron (Leader, Conservative Party):
Tbilisi yesterday did not feel like a city at war. Despite the Russian tanks just outside the city on the main road to Gori, people went about their Saturday business. →
New York Times: Europe Wonders if It Can Square Its Need for Russia With a Distaste for Putin
PARIS — As NATO foreign ministers gather Tuesday for an emergency meeting on the Georgian crisis, Europe is divided over how to balance its ties to Russia with concerns over the country’s new aggressiveness.
The European dilemma is clear, said Clifford Kupchan, a director of the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm in Washington. “How do they square their increasing energy dependence on Russia with their increasing political discomfort with Putin?” he said, referring to Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. “It’s a very hard circle to square.”
Press-release of Council of National Security of Georgia
This post will probably be in English soon. Now you can read it in Russian - Русский.
Digest: French media headlines August 16, 2008
This post will probably be in English soon. Now you can read it in Ukrainian - Українська.
Digest: The Daily Telegraph: Why is Vladimir Putin so scared of Georgia?
This article Anne Applebaum has first appeared in The Daily Telegraph on August 15, 2008
‘It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” In recent days, this famous Churchillian pronouncement on Russia has echoed through many an analysis. In particular, Vladimir Putin - former Russian president, current Russian prime minister, the man still clearly in charge of the country - has been held up as a great puzzle. →