Did Rice draw a line in the sand when she "warned Russia, whose forces have blockaded the town of Gori, that "we expect that our humanitarian aid would be allowed to get in by air, land or sea"?
Bush won't compromise on Georgia sovereignty
Aug 14 2008
US President George W. Bush assured leaders of Ukraine and Lithuania on Thursday that he remains fully committed to "a sovereign, free Georgia and its territorial integrity," the White House said.
In his conversations with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Bush stressed US "solidarity" with Georgia in its conflict with Russia, according to spokeswoman Dana Perino.
"All the leaders stressed the importance of standing by a sovereign, free Georgia and its territorial integrity, and agreed on the need for Russia to stop the violence, abide by the ceasefire and withdraw its forces," she said.
Perino had a brutally dismissive response to reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the world can "forget about" Georgian sovereignty, describing it as meaningless "bluster" with no effect on US policy.
"Our position on Georgia's territorial integrity is not going to change, no matter what anybody says, and so I would consider that bluster coming from the foreign minister of Russia, and we will ignore it," she said.
Perino also said it was too soon to be sure that Russia was abiding by its ceasefire agreement, but told reporters: "We do hope it's trending in the right direction."
She also warned Russia, whose forces have blockaded the town of Gori, that "we expect that our humanitarian aid would be allowed to get in by air, land or sea," but added that she did not know of any instances where it had been barred.
breitbart.com |
