Brussels - Moscow's failure to fully implement the six-point
peace plan agreed with Georgia threatens Russia's future relationship
with the European Union, the bloc's leaders were set to agree Monday.
To avoid repercussions, Russian troops should immediately withdraw
to the lines they held prior to the conflict, and the Kremlin should
agree to international discussions on solving the status of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia.
At an emergency summit in Brussels, EU leaders were expected to
state that relations with Russia would be 'evaluated, carefully and
deeply'.
Such an evaluation 'could lead to decisions ... on the future of
relations between the Union and Russia' by the time an EU-Russia
summit is due to take place in Nice on November 14.
According to a draft under discussion in Brussels, EU leaders also
strongly denounced Russia's recognition of Georgia's two breakaway
regions and called on other countries not to follow Moscow's lead.
'We appeal to other countries not to recognize their proclamation
of independence,' the draft says.
So far, Russia is the only country to have recognized the two
regions as independent nations. And only Belarus and Venezuela have
vowed to do the same.
This has not stopped Russian President Dmitry Medvedev from firing
a warning shot at the EU by saying that Moscow's decision to
recognize the breakaway Georgian enclaves was 'irrevocable.'
'From a legal standpoint, the new states have come into existence.
The process of their being recognized can take a long time, but our
position will not change because of that,' he said Sunday on Russian
television.
EU countries were also expected to 'contribute significantly' to
the OSCE's current monitoring mission in Georgia's two breakaway
regions.
The bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the EU was
ready to send 'hundreds' of observers to verify if Moscow is
implementing the ceasefire agreement.
In the meantime, the EU will provide funds to assist Georgia's
reconstruction, organize a donors conference and strengthen its ties
with the southern Caucasus nation through a future free-trade
agreement and visa facilitations for Georgian nationals wishing to
visit any of the EU's member states.
The conflict between Georgia and Russia has revived fears of a new
Cold War and has also highlighted deep divisions within the 27-member
bloc.
While Poland, the Baltic trio and Britain have called on the EU to
react strongly to Russia's aggression, heavyweights Germany, France
and Italy all insist on the need to maintain dialogue with Moscow.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel brushed aside talks of sanctions
prior to the meeting by insisting that dialogue between the EU and
Russia should not break down.
Merkel said Monday's summit should have two goals: help rebuild
Georgia and show unity in condemning Russia's recognition of the
enclaves, which she described as 'a violation of international law.'
She said she was 'disappointed and dissatisfied' that Russia had
not fully implemented the six-point plan drawn up on August 12 by
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in his role as EU president, to end
the brief conflict between Russia and Georgia.
'The violation of Georgian territorial integrity is unacceptable,'
she said, but added that the 'threads of dialogue with Russia should
not be severed.'
The EU's external affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero Waldner,
said the Union was facing 'a very difficult moment' in its
relationship with Russia, but said EU leaders should agree on a
'realistic and balanced approach.'
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged his fellow EU
members to draw up a position 'that shows that military aggression
will not pay off.' He also called on the EU to strengthen its
relationship with Georgia and to wean itself from its dependence on
Russian gas and oil.
EU nations are largely dependant on Russia for their energy needs,
and currently import about 40 per cent of their gas and some 33 per
cent of their oil from Russia.
USA
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