Latest Articles about The Caucasus
RUSSIA NULLIFIES FRENCH-BROKERED ARMISTICE IN GEORGIA
The Kremlin has already nullified the agreement on cessation of hostilities in Georgia, which French President Nicolas Sarkozy had brokered with Presidents Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow and Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi on August 12-13 (see EDM, August 13, 18). Russia has junked the six-point agreement... MORE
BEYOND SOUTH OSSETIA AND ABKHAZIA: MORE RUSSIAN NIBBLING AT GEORGIAN TERRITORY?
While breaching its six obligations under the French-brokered armistice agreement, Russia is using the same agreement’s loopholes to justify the continuing military occupation and vandalization of Georgian territories (see EDM, August 13, 18). Moscow demands the creation of a Russian-controlled “security zone” farther south from... MORE
RUSSIA PREPARING TO SPLINTER GEORGIA AFTER SARKOZY-BROKERED ARMISTICE
The Kremlin is not honoring the French-brokered agreement on cessation of hostilities and troop withdrawal from Georgia. Russian troops are roaming and rampaging at will through parts of Georgia and are preparing to seize chunks of its territory for the long term. Meanwhile, Russia brandishes... MORE
THE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN WAR WAS PREPLANNED IN MOSCOW
Last week military tension in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia escalated into all-out war. The Ossetian separatists were provoking a conflict to give the Russian military a pretext for direct intervention. Late in the evening of August 7, a heavy mortar bombardment of Georgian... MORE
RUSSIA’S WAR ON GEORGIA IS AIMED AGAINST THE WEST
For the fifth day running, Russian forces are pursuing their onslaught against Georgia. Russian troops have brutally advanced far beyond the so-called conflict zones, deep inside the country, occupying towns and villages and destroying Georgia’s infrastructure through aerial bombardments. In addition, the Russian Navy has... MORE
SARKOZY ARMISTICE PLAN FAVORS RUSSIA, UNDERCUTS GEORGIA
On August 12 in Moscow, following Georgia’s unilateral ceasefire, French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the conditions for Russia to cease hostilities against Georgia. That evening, Medvedev announced that Russia was temporarily ceasing hostilities against Georgia. That same evening Sarkozy... MORE
THE GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN CONFLICT THROUGH THE EYES OF BAKU
The escalating conflict in Georgia--with its unexpected military developments and great humanitarian losses--seems to have caught Azerbaijani officials and the public off guard. Azerbaijanis are not new to the world of Russian political games in the Caucasus. Baku itself suffered greatly from Russian intervention in... MORE
THE GOALS BEHIND MOSCOW’S PROXY OFFENSIVE IN SOUTH OSSETIA
As anticipated (see EDM, July 11, August 4) Moscow has initiated an offensive military operation by proxy against Georgia in South Ossetia. Although the blow had been expected in upper Abkhazia and may yet materialize there, Russia shifted the direction of attack to the South... MORE
OSSETIAN SEPARATISTS ARE PROVOKING A MAJOR RUSSIAN INTERVENTION
Military tension in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia has been building up for several months. In June the head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Teri Hakala told me in Tbilisi that military clashes were happening on an almost daily basis, that OSCE monitors... MORE
MOSCOW ORCHESTRATES WAR SCARE IN SOUTH OSSETIA
Since July 31, Russian state television channels have been airing inflammatory stories about Georgian forces firing on South Ossetia’s administrative center Tskhinvali, inflicting civilian casualties and causing a refugee exodus to North Ossetia (Russian TV Channel One, Rossiya TV, NTV, Itar-Tass, July 31-August 3). The... MORE