Originally published Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM
French-brokered deal gives Russia grounds to advance
It was early Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced he had accomplished what seemed impossible: persuading Georgia and Russia to agree to a set of principles to stop the war. But by the time the sun was up, Russian tanks were advancing, around strategic Gori, in central Georgia.
The New York Times
TBILISI, Georgia — It was early Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced he had accomplished what seemed impossible: persuading Georgia and Russia to agree to a set of principles to stop the war.
But by the time the sun was up, Russian tanks were advancing, around strategic Gori, in central Georgia.
It soon became clear that the six-point deal not only failed to slow the Russian advance, it also allowed Russia to claim it could push deeper into Georgia as part of so-called additional security measures granted in the accord.
Sarkozy, said a senior Georgian official, also failed to persuade Russia to agree to any time limit on military action.
By midmorning, European officials warned of the risks of appeasing Russian aggression, while Georgian officials lamented the West's weak leverage.
"I'm talking about the impotence and inability of both Europe and the United States to be unified and to exert leverage, and to comprehend the level of the threat," said the Georgian official, who had sat in on the talks between Sarkozy and Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili.
The official later made a copy of the deal available to The New York Times with what he said were notes marking changes the Georgians had asked for but failed to attain.
Of gripping importance to Georgia is whether the agreement gave the Russians room to interpret the occupation of Gori and a zone around the city as agreed upon in the cease-fire, thus allowing them to control the main east-west road through the country, isolating the capital, Tbilisi, from the Black Sea coast and cutting off key supply routes.
France brokered the deal as the country holding the rotating presidency of the European Union. Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France, visited Tbilisi and left with a four-point cease-fire plan: no use of force; cease hostilities; open humanitarian corridors; and Georgian and Russian troops withdraw to their prewar positions.
In Moscow, the Russians, negotiating from a position of strength, insisted on two more points, the Georgian official said.
The Russians demanded that their troops be allowed to act in what was termed a peacekeeping role even outside the boundaries of the separatist enclaves where the war began. The vague language of the fifth point allows Russian peacekeepers to "implement additional security measures" while awaiting an international monitoring mechanism.
The Georgians asked that a timeline be included, but Russia rejected the proposal.
![]()
In the sixth point, both sides agreed to leave the future status of the contested separatist regions aside.
A senior U.S. official familiar with the talks also said the Russians insisted on the fifth point about the so-called additional security measures.
"I think it was presented as, 'You need to sign on to this,' " the official said of Sarkozy's appeal to the Georgians. "My guess is it was presented as, 'This is the best I can get.' "
French and Russian officials were unavailable to comment on the Georgian official's account of how the negotiations unfolded.
Both Sarkozy and Saakashvili announced the agreement around 2 a.m. Wednesday, and Russian tanks and troops moved toward Gori soon afterward.
The Russians cited the fifth provision, saying they had identified a threat to the local population that justified their troops assuming a peacekeeping role.
One senior U.S. official said the fifth point in the cease-fire deal could lead to further Russian advances, including on Tbilisi, to create panic and undermine support for Saakashvili.
This official said international acceptance of Russians as peacekeepers in Georgia "is absurd at this point."
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 04:07 PM
DC sniper's Muhammad's execution set for tonight
UPDATE - 04:06 PM
DOD worker assessed Fort Hood suspect months ago
UPDATE - 03:43 PM
Obama salutes Fort Hood victims, promises justice
UPDATE - 04:06 PM
White House: Obama eyeing host of Afghan choices
UPDATE - 04:06 PM
North, South Korea clash at sea before Obama visit

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Lt. governor's son shot by co-worker in Kent; gunman then shot self
- DNA, ballistics tie man to cop killing, police say
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- Huskies are finding talent in Tacoma
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- King County OKs 'don't ask' law on immigration
272 - Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
264 - Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
210 - McGinn more than doubles his lead over Mallahan
194 - Obama pressed into role as national healer
142 - Resolute Fort Hood soldiers ready for return
131 - Time to bring Ken Griffey Jr. back in 2010
100 - 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
97 - Josh Smith picks UCLA
86 - DNA, ballistics tie man to cop killing, police say
86
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor
- All You Can Eat | Fruit flies: thrill to the kill
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Rainier Pacific Financial calls rescue 'unlikely'





