2008 Georgia-Russia crisis

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Georgian-Russian relations (1989-2008)

Internal conflicts in Georgia Georgian-Ossetian conflict Georgian-Abkhaz conflict Rose Revolution (2003) Adjara crisis (2004) 2006 crises Gas pipeline sabotage Ban of wines Kodori crisis Espionage controversy Deportation of Georgians 2007 alleged air space violations Helicopter attack incident Missile incident Plane downing incident 2007 Russian ambassador controversy 2007 Georgian demonstrations 2008 crisis v • d • e

The 2008 Georgia-Russia crisis began on March 6, 2008 when Russia announced that it would no longer participate in the CIS economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia in 1996.^[1] The crisis has been linked to the push for Georgia to receive a NATO Membership Action Plan and the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.^[2] Tensions in the crisis have been primarily centered around the breakaway state of Abkhazia and increase following the shootdown of a Georgian drone and subsequent buildup of military forces by Russia.

Contents 1 Events 1.1 Lifting of CIS sanctions 1.2 Russian increase of ties with breakaway republics in Georgia 1.3 Georgia drone-downing incidents 1.4 Military buildup in Abkhazia 1.5 Events in South Ossetia 1.6 Russian spy accusation 1.7 Russian railway troops in Abkhazia 2 See also 3 References

[edit] Events

[edit] Lifting of CIS sanctions

Responding Kosovo's declaration of independence Russian officials declared Moscow should “reshape its relations with self-proclaimed republics”.^[3] Russia responded to these calls for increased ties by lifting CIS sanctions, declaring them "outdated, impeding the socio-economic development of the region, and causing unjustified hardship for the people of Abkhazia".^[1] Russia also called on other CIS members to undertake similar steps, but met with protests from Tbilisi and lack of support from the other CIS countries.^[4] Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the Labor Party of Georgia, warned Abkhazia would be "finally separated from Georgia" and cited the lifting of sanctions as the first sign.^[5] Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, raised similar concerns about the dropping of trade restrictions saying, "That could look like a de facto annexation and that would be a matter of great concern if it were the case."^[6]

[edit] Russian increase of ties with breakaway republics in Georgia

Abkhazia and South Ossetia both submitted formal requests for recognition of their independence to Russia, among other countries, and international organizations as a response to the recognition of Kosovo.^[7][8] Russia's Duma called a session for March 13 to discuss the issue of recognition in respect to the unrecognized republics in the Former Soviet Union.^[9] Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said the European Union was concerned by what it considered moves by Russia to recognize Abkhazia. External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said, there was "a growing preoccupation and anxiety that Russia may be paving the way for recognition of Abkhazia," and stated the EU's support for Georgia's territorial integrity.^[6]

The Duma Committee for CIS on March 13th, following a hearing on the unrecognized republics recommended an upgrading of relations with Abkhazia, Transnistria, and South Ossetia including the possibility of recognition. Other recommendations included or reported are the establishment of diplomatic missions in the regions with the foreign ministry to decide whether they are consulates or another type of mission, a removal of import duties on goods created by businesses with Russian shareholders in the regions, and increased humanitarian and economic assistance for Russian passport holders in the regions.^[10][11] The Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily described the hearing as "the launch of a procedure of recognition."^[10]

On April 16, 2008, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was going to recognise some documents issued by the separatist authorities and cooperate with them on trade and other issues. Putin also instructed his government to recognise businesses and organisations registered under Abkhaz and South Ossetian law, and to look at providing consular services to residents in the two regions. Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze said Russia's move amounted to a "legalisation of the de facto annexation process" being conducted by Russia and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Russia to reverse the move and called for restraint from Georgia.^[2]

Russian officials have warned that a move by Georgia to join NATO could force Russia to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia arguing that since the NATO referendum held in Georgia did not include the breakaway states it showed Georgia intends to join NATO without them.^[12]

Direct dealings between Russia and Abkhazia on the transfer of Russian citizens in Abkhaz prisons raised concern from Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis since the dealings were done without seeking the permission of the Georgian government.^[13]

[edit] Georgia drone-downing incidents

The crisis deepened on April 20, 2008 when a Georgian unmanned unarmed aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down over the Abkhazian conflict zone. Abkhazia's separatist administration immediately said its own forces shot down the drone because it was violating Abkhaz airspace and breached ceasefire agreements. Garry Kupalba, deputy defence minister of the unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia, told reporters the drone had been shot down by an "L-39 aircraft of the Abkhaz Air Force". He also identified the drone as an Israeli-made Hermes 450.^[14]

However, Georgia's defence ministry released video the next day showing what appears to be a Russian MiG-29 shooting down the unarmed Georgian drone. The video, shot from the drone moments before impact, shows a jet launching a missile over what appears to be the Black Sea. According to Georgia the jet came from Gudauta and then returned to Russia. Moscow denied Georgia’s accusation and stressed that none of its planes were in the region at the time.^[15][16] Furthermore, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement accusing Georgia of violating 1994 Moscow agreement and United Nations resolutions on Abkhazia by deploying without authorisation a UAV (which also can be used to direct fire) in the Security Zone and the Restricted Weapons Zone.^[17]

On April 24, a closed-door U.N. Security Council emergency session convened at Georgia’s request failed to resolve the dispute, but the U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a join statement expressing their concern over Russia’s recent moves in Abkhazia and calling Moscow to reverse or not to implement its decision to legalize ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin called the demand by the Western states "a tall order" and stressed that Russia had no intention of reversing its plans.^[18]

Although Moscow denies that a MiG-class fighter was involved in the incident, the Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has suggested that a MiG-29 belonging to a NATO member might have downed the Georgian spy plane. In response, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has reportedly remarked that "he'd eat his tie if it turned out that a NATO MiG-29 had magically appeared in Abkhazia and shot down a Georgian drone."^[19]

Early in May 2008, both Russian and Abkhaz sides claimed that three more Georgian reconnaissance drones were shot over Abkhazia, and declared that Georgia was preparing to mount an offensive into the region in the near future. Georgia denied these allegations, stating that it was "a provocation aimed at propagandistic support of Russia’s military intervention."^[20]

On May 26, 2008, the U.N. mission released the conclusion of its independent investigation into the April 20 incident. It confirmed that the Georgian video footage and radar data were authentic and the jet which destroyed the drone was indeed Russian. The conclusion report said that the jet flew towards the Russian territory after the incident, but it was unclear where the attacker took off, naming the Gudauta base as a possible locality. The mission also noted that “a reconnaissance mission by a military aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, constituted “military action” and therefore contravened the ceasefire accord.^[21] Georgia hailed the report,^[22] but Russia dismissed it.^[23]

[edit] Military buildup in Abkhazia

The UAV incident triggered a new rise in tensions between the two countries. Russia accused Georgia of trying to exploit the NATO support to solve the Abkhazia problem by force and of sending its troops in the Georgia-controlled upper Kodori Valley in northeast Abkhazia. However, the U.N. monitors in Abkhazia stated earlier in April they did not observe any military buildup on either side of the demilitarization line. On April 29, Russia announced it would increase its military in the region and threatened to retaliate militarily to Georgia’s efforts. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, it has increased the number of its peacekeepers in Abkhazia to 2,542 peacekeepers, which is 458 short of the 3,000 limit set by agreement.^[24] The Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said Georgia would treat any additional troops in Abkhazia as aggressors while President Saakashvili, in his televised address, pledged to pursue only a peaceful line in the conflict areas and called upon the Abkhaz and Ossetians to unite with Georgia in defying attempts by “outrageous and irresponsible external force to trigger bloodshed”.^[25] The European Union also urged caution, saying to increase troop numbers would be "unwise" given current tensions, while the United States has called on Russia “to reconsider some provocative steps” it had taken in respect of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia.^[26]

Georgia suspended the talks regarding Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and threatened to veto the process.^[27] Georgian officials claim Russia is changing facts on the ground in order to make it impossible for NATO foreign ministers to give Georgia a Membership Action Plan when they meet in December 2008.^[28] Russian Cossacks and North Caucasian mountaineers declared their readiness to fight Georgia in the case of a renewed confrontation in Abkhazia.^[29] On May 6, 2008, the Georgian state minister for reintegration Temur Iakobashvili said Georgia was on the verge of war with Russia.^[30] Georgia requested from the U.N. mission to inquire into the number and deployment of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Abkhazia. Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the chief U.N. observer "agreed that actions by the Russian side do not contradict basic agreements on the conduct of the peacekeeping operation", but the mission later responded to this statement, declaring that it "has no authority to pronounce on the conformity between the CIS peacekeeping operation in the Zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict and CIS rules."^[31]

The Abkhaz foreign minister Sergei Shamba asked Russia to place Abkhazia under Russia's military control in exchange for security guarantees.^[32] Sergei Bagapsh, president of Abkhazia's separatist administration, said he was in favor of Russia establishing a military base in Abkhazia and called for the signing of a military cooperation agreement with Russia modeled on the Taiwan Relations Act.^[33] Alexander Zelin, commander of the Russian Air Forces said if such a decision was made it would "promote the implementation of air defense tasks" and noted Russia has similar cooperation with Armenia.

^[34] On May 16, 2008 Yuri Baluevsky, chief of general staff of the Russian armed forces denied Russia had any plans to build a military base in Abkhazia.^[35] On May 18, 2008 Georgia detained five Russian peacekeepers along the administrative border with the Abkhazia region claiming that their armoured personnel carrier collided with a Georgian woman's car, in the town of Zugdidi. The peacekeepers were later released. Alexander Diordiev, a Russian peacekeeping official, confirmed the detention of the Russian soldiers but said there was no collision and instead that Georgians provoked the peacekeepers in an attempt to discredit the Russian presence.^[36] According to Diordiev peacekeepers were redeploying hardware near the village of Urta on the night of when Georgian law-enforcement officers blocked the road to the peacekeepers' armored personnel carrier and fuel tanker truck. Then, a damaged Volga car approached the scene and the Georgian police claimed that the car had been damaged by the Russian peacekeepers. Diordiev said that force was used against the peacekeepers.^[37] A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry issued on May 19, 2008 has compared the Georgians’ actions to those of “true street bandits” saying The Georgians used “crude physical force,” striking one peacekeeper in the head and taking two to the police station. According to the statement only after the intervention of the Collective Forces for the Support of Peace command and the UN observation mission were the Russian peacekeepers released. Diordiev stated that the Georgians were informed in advance that the equipment would be moved.^[38]

On May 19, 2008 Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that over the weekend Moscow's military leadership authorized peacekeepers to conduct armed operations on their own behalf if necessary. Sergei Shamba, the Abkhaz foreign minister, said the report was "credible." ^[39]

On May 21, 2008 automatic weapons fire and grenade blasts were reported near the village of Kurcha. A passenger bus is also reported to have come under fire. Russian peacekeepers and UN observers were called to the scene of the violence.^[40] A deputy Georgian interior minister told journalists two buses of passengers going to vote in the Georgian elections were blown up and that the injured were being taken to Zugdidi hospital.^[41] Abkhaz officials claimed the attacks happened in Georgian territory, not Abkhaz. Two Georgians were reported to be those injured in the attack.^[42] Some reports said the Inguri Bridge, the only legal crossing-point between the breakaway region of Abkhazia and Samegrelo, was blocked by Abkhaz paramilitary units and that Bus crossing has also been banned. Dozens of local residents assembled in front of the administrative office of the district to protest the decision. ^[43] Georgian officials accused Abkhazia of the attacks and preventing Georgians from voting in the legislative elections, which Abkhaz officials denied instead saying Georgia was responsible for the attack and Georgians in Abkhaiza were not interested in voting. Abkhazia said Russian peacekeepers were sent to the border to prevent further violence.^[44]

Georgia's Foreign Ministry has sent a protest note to the CIS secretariat demanding some Russian troops and armaments be immediately withdrawn from Abkhazia saying that according to the UN, an airborne battalion, 50 BMD-2 airborne combat vehicles, and two artillery batteries have been deployed in Abkhazia. The ministry said this was out of line with a 1995 resolution of the CIS presidents' council.^[45]

[edit] Events in South Ossetia

Georgia's foreign minister, Yekaterina Tkeshelashvili, said on May 15, 2008 that Georgia would regard any increase in Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia as a "gross encroachment on Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity".^[46]

In South Ossetia three explosions were heard near the village of Eredvi with one blast meters away from a line Georgian military vehicles. South Ossetian authorities have called the blasts a "provocation".^[47] Deputy Defense Minister Batu Kutelia accused the South Ossetian administration of being responsbile, saying they had taken up “tactics of terrorism.”^[48]

On May 20, 2008 Taimuraz Mamsurov, president of the south Russian republic of North Ossetia, asked foreign ambassadors for their support in uniting the province with South Ossetia. Georgian Ambassador to Russia Erosi Kitsmarishvili said such unification would contravene international law.^[49] South Ossetia's President Eduard Kokoity hailed Mamsurov’s pronouncement saying “South Ossetia’s main goal is unification with North Ossetia in the Russian Federation. We make no secret of this in front of the international community.” Both have suggested an interim period where South Ossetia is recognized as independent and then formally incorporated into Russia through a referendum.^[50]

[edit] Russian spy accusation

On May 16, 2008 it was reported that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed to have intercepted a spy working for Georgia who was trying to help rebels in Southern Russia.^[51] The alleged agent was identified as Ramzan Turkoshvili, a Georgian-born Russian citizen, who the FSB said was recruited by Georgian intelligence officers working with Zelimkhan Khangashvili accused of being involved in a 2004 attack in Russia's Ingushetia province that left nearly 100 people dead, many of them police. The official also claimed Georgian intelligence paid Turkoshvili to establish contacts with militants in the North Caucasus and help Georgia finance them, ease their movement and gather information about potential recruits among Russian servicemen and officials. The FSB cast the detention as proof of Georgian support for militants operating in Russia's restive North Caucasus, including Chechnya, and confirms that Georgia's security service was "participating in disruptive terrorist activities" in the region. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili denied the accusations and called it "a continuation of Russia's policy of provocation toward Georgia".^[52]

[edit] Russian railway troops in Abkhazia

On May 31, 2008, Russia sent its railway troops, allegedly unarmed, to repair a railway line in Abkhazia. Georgia condemned the move as an act of aggression aimed at preparing a full-scale intervention.^[53] The US Department of State also said that it was "dismayed" by the deployment.^[54] On June 2, 2008, Temur Mzhavia, chairman of the exiled Supreme Council of Abkhazia, claimed that Russia plans to recognize Abkhazia on September 27, when the Abkhaz celebrate a “victory day”, but Vyacheslav Kovalenko, Russia’s ambassador to Georgia, dismissed such claims as “fabrications”.^[55]

The new Russian troops' arrival in Abkhazia preceded by a few days a planned meeting between the presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia on the sidelines of a CIS summit in St. Petersburg on June 6-7. Saakashvili said he would hold a phone conversation with Medvedev on June 3 to discuss the deployment of Russian engineering units in Abkhazia.^[56] On June 3, Nato's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer accused Russia of breaching Georgia's sovereignty by sending in military railway personnel and demanded their withdrawal. ^[57]

On June 7, 2008 the Russia's defense minister said the railroad troops would leave within two months after they've finished work on the railroad.^[58]

[edit] See also

• Georgia-Russia relations
• Controversy over Kosovo independence
• Frozen conflict

[edit] References