Tbilisi/Kiev/Moscow - US Vice President Dick Cheney vowed US
allegiance to Georgia on Thursday in the face of Russia's military
push into the former Soviet state.
Russia's move called into question its reliability as a partner, he
said.
'I bring greetings from Georgia's friend and ally, President George
W Bush ... in America. (The Georgian people) have a sturdy and
faithful friend,' Cheney said at a press conference in the capital of
Tbilisi.
Standing side by side with President Mikheil Saakashvili and
flanked by Georgian flags, Cheney voiced respect for Saakashvili's
'fearless response to Russia's occupation.'
Cheney pledged US aid, 'as you work to overcome an invasion of your
sovereign territory and an illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change
your country's borders by force that has been universally condemned by
the world.'
The uncompromising declaration of support for Saakashvili, who aims
to bring his country closer to the West and into NATO, marks a further
deterioration in relations with Moscow, whose powerful premier,
Vladimir Putin, accused Washington of baiting Georgia to start the
conflict.
A vocal critic of the Kremlin, Cheney said 'Russia's actions cast
grave doubt on Russia's intentions and on its reliability as an
international partner - not just in Georgia but across this region
and, indeed, throughout the international system.'
Cheney is the highest ranking US official to travel to Georgia
since the five days of intense fighting last month. His visit was
timed to coincide with Washington's announcement that it was boosting
aid by 1 billion dollars to the former Soviet republic.
The US vice president was on his first visit to Georgia and also
held talks Wednesday in oil-rich Azerbaijan.
He flew to Ukraine later Thursday as part of a tour that
underscored US interests in securing energy pipelines for oil from the
Caspian Sea that cut out Russian intermediaries.
Cheney's speech emphasized US promotion of democracy in the region,
evoking a huge rally of 'more than one hundred thousand' in support
for the 'democratically-elected government.'
Here, he was interrupted by Saakashvili, who corrected 'actually
1.5 million.'
'We feel that we are not alone. We feel that a great community of
nations from the European Union, the United States, Japan, other
responsible nations, China, are standing by Georgia,' Saakashvili said
earlier, welcoming Cheney.
Amid mounting military tensions with three US warships in the Black
Sea to deliver aid to Georgia, Russia has warned the US against
extending aid to rearming the Caucasus state's army.
Russia's military brass lashed out over the build-up of warships in
the Black Sea, and Putin warned this week that Russia would react if
more NATO naval vessels move up the Bosphorus.
Russia and NATO, in a tit-for-tat response to the conflict, froze
relations last week.
The alliance also strengthened ties with Georgia in a step toward
eventual membership, which Moscow vehemently opposes and which
analysts say was a key spark to the recent conflict.
On Thursday, Cheney repeated his president's desire that Georgia be
made an alliance member, calling it a goal to which 'America is fully
committed.'
'Georgia will be in our alliance. NATO is a defensive alliance. It
is a threat to no one. Indeed, NATO is one of the great forces for
freedom, security and peace that the modern world has known,' Cheney
told journalist in Tbilisi.
Cheney was due to hold talks Friday in Ukraine in a move that
reiterates US support for the ex-Soviet state to also join NATO, which
would bring the alliance flush with Russia's borders.
Russia claims it was compelled to send its army into Georgia's
breakaway region of South Ossetia to halt an attack by Tbilisi on its
peacekeepers and a genocide of the people.
But Moscow's subsequent move to recognize the independence of South
Ossetia and the other rebel region of Abkhazia was roundly criticized
by the West and deepened Russia's isolation after the crisis.
The US Vice President flew to the Ukrainian capital Kiev in the
afternoon. He was scheduled to meet with President Viktor Yushchenko
and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Friday.
Yushchenko supports early Ukrainian membership in NATO, while
Tymoshenko favours Kiev's striking a middle line between Brussels and
Moscow.
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