Monday, August 18, 2008

South Ossetia: France tells Russia to withdraw while Germany says Georgia will join NATO

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Russia to withdraw "without delay" all its military forces that entered Georgia since Aug. 7, the presidential office said in a statement.

"There will be serious consequences" if Russia does not honor its cease-fire agreement with Georgia, the French president told his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in a phone conversation.

Medvedev, who signed the French-brokered peace agreement on Saturday, said that Russia will start pulling out its forces on Monday.

In related news, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today in the Georgian capital that the ex-Soviet republic, currently mired in conflict with Russia, will join NATO.

"Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," she said before talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi.
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Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting