Georgia says Russia troops blocking refugee return

By Mark Trevelyan
1 hour, 9 minutes ago

GORI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russian troops deep inside Georgian territory are stopping thousands of refugees from returning to their homes, a Georgian official said on Saturday.

Putin: US orchestrated conflict in Georgia

By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 47 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of pushing Georgia toward war and said he suspects a connection to the U.S. presidential campaign — a contention the White House dismissed as "patently false."

U.S. Has Little to Back Up Tough Talk With Russia

Experts Believe Russia Has Little to Fear From U.S. Threats

By KIRIT RADIA
Aug. 28, 2008

Washington is warning the Kremlin it could face consequences for a decision this week to recognize the independence of two breakaway regions in neighboring Georgia and for continuing to defy calls by the United States and its allies to remove Russian troops from Georgian territory.

Who Started Cold War II?

Tue Aug 19, 3:00 AM ET

The American people should be eternally grateful to Old Europe for having spiked the Bush-McCain plan to bring Georgia into NATO.

Russia not honoring ceasefire: Pentagon

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russia is still not honoring its ceasefire agreement with Georgia and continues to maintain a "large presence" of troops in the former Soviet republic, the US Defense Department said Monday.

Defiant Russia still entrenched in Georgia

by Stuart Williams
39 minutes ago

TBILISI (AFP) - Russian forces were on Saturday still deployed deep inside Georgia, keeping their grip on a strategic port city, as Moscow brushed aside Western accusations it was failing to abide by a ceasefire deal.

Day-by-day: Georgia-Russia crisis

A day-by-day look at how the conflict involving Russia and Georgia over the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia is unfolding.

Soviet roots to Georgian conflict

Diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall traces the fault lines in the current Georgian conflict back to the Soviet era and finds some ominous echoes of the Cold War.

There have been ominous signs of score settling between Russia and Georgia

My first visit to Georgia was in 1977. I was staying with an old lady, the widow of a rather famous Russian artist called Vassily Shukhaev¸ who spent 10 years in exile in Siberia under Stalin.

Nato wonders what to do about Russia

By Paul Reynolds
World affairs correspondent, BBC News website

Russian troops in Georgia: What now for Nato relations with Moscow?

On the eve of a special meeting of their foreign ministers to discuss the conflict in Georgia, Nato governments are divided on what to do about Russia.

Ossetian crisis: Who started it?

By Jenny Norton
BBC News

Georgia was filmed firing rockets into South Ossetia on 8 August

The fighting may well be over in South Ossetia, but the war of words between Russia and Georgia shows no sign of dying down.

Russia promises to start Georgia pullback

By Margarita Antidze
2 hours, 46 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - Russia said it would complete a pullback of troops in Georgia by the end of Friday but it stopped short of the extensive withdrawal demanded by the West, saying it would keep a force deep inside Georgia's heartland.

Russia and West at odds over UN Georgia resolution

By CARLEY PETESCH, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - Russia and key Western nations remained at odds Thursday over a U.N. resolution aimed at bringing peace to Georgia, with the U.S., France and Britain insisting on immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and a commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity.

Russia blocks Georgia's main port city

By BELA SZANDELZSKY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

POTI, Georgia - Russian forces dug trenches and built fortifications in key areas of Georgia Thursday, but also rolled columns of tanks north toward home, picking and choosing how their nation would comply with the terms of a peace accord.

Russia again says it will begin withdrawal from Georgia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, voices strong support for Georgia's desire to join NATO, a goal that has fed Moscow's anger toward Saakashvili and the West.

By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2008

TBILISI, GEORGIA -- The Kremlin said Sunday that Russia's military would begin withdrawing its forces from Georgia today, though it was not immediately clear how far or how fast the troops would move.

Georgia-Russia conflict a blow to Bush foreign policy

The president's reliance on diplomacy based on personal relations with leaders such as Putin and his push to establish democracies from the top down has proved not so viable.

By Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- In the last week, two major pillars of President Bush's approach to foreign policy have crumbled, jeopardizing eight years of work and sending the administration scrambling for new strategies in the waning months of its term.

Russian soldiers take prisoners in Georgia port

By BELA SZANDELSZKY, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago

POTI, Georgia - Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

How to Stop Putin

By Charles Krauthammer
Thursday, August 14, 2008; Page A17

The Russia-Georgia cease-fire brokered by France's president is less than meets the eye. Its terms keep moving as the Russian army keeps moving. Russia has since occupied Gori (appropriately, Stalin's birthplace), effectively cutting Georgia in two. The road to the capital, Tbilisi, is open, but apparently Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has temporarily chosen to seek his objectives through military pressure and Western acquiescence rather than by naked occupation.

East Europe tries to protect itself from Russia

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 17 minutes ago

WARSAW, Poland - Poland strikes a deal on a U.S. missile defense base. Ukraine tries to limit the Russian navy's movement in its waters. The Czech Republic's leader warns his nation is in danger of being sucked back into Moscow's orbit.

Russian forces pull back from Igoeti's center

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 33 minutes ago

IGOETI, Georgia - Russian forces pulled back Saturday from the center of a town not far from Georgia's capital after Russia's president signed a cease-fire deal, but his foreign minister later suggested there would be no immediate broader withdrawal.

Bush: Georgia deal 'hopeful,' Russia must withdraw

by Olivier Knox
1 hour, 1 minute ago

CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Saturday warily welcomed Russia's signing of a deal to end its conflict with Georgia as "a hopeful step," but warned Moscow must now withdraw its forces.

Russia: Poland risks attack because of US missiles

By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago

MOSCOW - A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.

Georgia president signs cease-fire with Russia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago

TBILISI, Georgia - A reluctant Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Friday he signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia and declared in the presence of the chief U.S. diplomat that the West had behaved in ways that invited the invasion.

Despite angry words, Pentagon seeks to avoid Russia conflict

By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Despite an angry pronouncement and a threat of U.S. action from President Bush, the U.S. military is determined to avoid inserting itself between its Georgian allies and its former superpower rival, Russia.

Russian soldiers block the road on the outskirts of Gori, northwest of the capital Tbilisi, Georgia, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008.

U.S. flies aid into Georgia, backs ceasefire

By Matt Robinson and Margarita Antidze
30 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - U.S. military planes began delivering aid to Georgia as Washington stepped up support for a shaky ceasefire with Russian troops around the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

West warns Russia over military push into Georgia

By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago

LONDON - The West is threatening to revoke Russia's membership in an elite Group of Eight nations club as punishment for the military incursion into the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Three countries have already pulled out of a joint military exercise with Russian forces that began in an era of cooperation after the Cold War.

Abkhazia War Dance

Demonstrators perform a traditional "war dance" during a demonstration by supporters of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in front of the Georgian consulate in Istanbul August 13, 2008.

REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY)

Russian convoy heads into Georgia, violating truce

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago

OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia - Russian troops and paramilitaries thrust deep into Georgia on Wednesday, rolling into the strategic city of Gori and violating the truce designed to end the six-day war that has uprooted 100,000 people and scarred the Georgian landscape.

US insists it still strongly backs Georgia leaders

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday he is skeptical that Moscow is honoring a cease-fire in neighboring Georgia, demanding that Russia end all military activities in the former Soviet republic and withdraw all its forces.

At UN: Confirmation of Russia's Georgia advance

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Aug 11, 11:27 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Georgia brought another last-ditch appeal Monday to the United Nations Security Council to stop Russia's advancing army, which U.N. officials confirmed has driven beyond Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russians move toward gorge despite cease-fire

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 13 minutes ago

CHUBERI, Georgia - The Russian troops sprawled on top of the tanks in a 135-vehicle convoy looked relaxed, with bandannas on their heads rather than helmets. Some smoked, one ate a chunk of watermelon. Many drivers had slung flak jackets over vehicle windows.

Georgian oil pipeline: the front line

The BTC pipeline was conceived in the 1990s as a way of reducing the West's reliance on oil and gas from the Middle East and, crucially, Russia. Now it is under threat. At stake are the balance of power in the Caucasus, and the vital questions of how, and where, the US and Europe will obtain their oil.

Vladimir Putin capitalises on US ambivalence

Gerard Baker: American view

Say what you will about Vladimir Putin, the man certainly has chutzpah. As his forces drove further into Georgia yesterday across the border from the province of South Ossetia, the Russian Prime Minister lashed out at the US for helping Tbilisi in the escalating war.

Russian Offensive Imperils U.S. Aims on Iran, Energy

Janine Zacharia
Tue Aug 12, 6:29 AM ET

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's military campaign in Georgia may threaten the U.S. strategic aims of preventing Iran from building a nuclear bomb and securing Central Asian energy supplies for Europe.

US, allies weigh punishment for Russia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 29 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Scrambling to find ways to punish Russia for its invasion of pro-Western Georgia, the United States and its allies are considering expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of wealthy nations and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

Russia: Georgia must accept non-use of force deal

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Moscow will agree to peace with Georgia if it removes its troops far beyond the borders of South Ossetia and signs a legally binding promise not to attack it, Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Russia orders halt to war, Georgia skeptical

By Oleg Shchedrov and James Kilner
42 minutes ago

MOSCOW/TBILISI (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday but Tbilisi cast doubt on the announcement, saying Russian fighter jets had just bombed two villages.

Russian president halts attacks, says Georgia 'punished'

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered a halt to the military offensive against Georgia saying it had been punished but could be hit again.

U.S. tells Russia to halt Georgia conflict

By Matt Robinson
29 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush told Russia on Monday to end its armed conflict with Georgia after Moscow's forces advanced deeper into its pro-Western neighbor's territory, ignoring Western pleas to halt.

Bush warns Russia to pull back in Georgia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday demanded that Russia end a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation to end the crisis in the former Soviet republic.

Russo-Georgian conflict is not all Russia's fault

By Charles King
Mon Aug 11, 4:00 AM ET

Washington - Following a series of provocative attacks in its secessionist region of South Ossetia late last week, Georgia launched an all-out attempt to reestablish control in the tiny enclave. Russia then intervened by dropping bombs on Georgia to protect the South Ossetians, halt the growing tide of refugees flooding into southern Russia, and aid its own peacekeepers there.

Russians march into Georgia as full-scale war looms

Russia's punitive campaign in the Caucasus threatened to intensify into all-out war against Georgia last night, with Russian troops seizing control of strategic towns a couple of hours from the capital, and aircraft pounding Georgian infrastructure.

Georgia claims Russians have cut country in half

By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago

GORI, Georgia - Russian forces seized several towns and a military base deep in western Georgia on Monday, opening a second front in the fighting. Georgia's president said his country had been effectively cut in half with the capture of the main east-west highway near Gori.

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror''

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror''