UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia formally
presented to the UN Security Council on Thursday its draft resolution endorsing
a six-point cease-fire agreement on the Georgian crisis sponsored by France.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made the
announcement to reporters after the council concluded on late afternoon fresh
consultations on Georgia.
In response to a reporter's question, however,
Churkin refrained from disclosing when Moscow would call for a council vote on
the draft.
"We can go to vote in 24 hours since it has been put
in blue, but I would not give you an exact time of what is going to happen,"
Churkin said.
Churkin introduced to the 15-member body on Wednesday
the draft resolution that would reaffirm the six principles contained in the
French-brokered cease-fire agreement.
The draft says the Security Council endorses the
cease-fire agreement agreed in Moscow on Aug. 12, which was first raised by
French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Then the draft gives a detailed account of the
agreement before calling on "the parties concerned to implement the
above-mentioned plan in good faith."
French Deputy Ambassador Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the
council is still working for "a unanimous resolution based on the six-point
plan."
"This is an ongoing process, we still has a couple of
important issues to address," Lacroix said.
These include an reiteration of the territorial
integrity of Georgia and "the modalities whereby Russian forces would remain
after the withdrawal pending the establishment of an international mechanism,"
he added.
On Tuesday, France circulated its own draft which
demands compliance with the cease-fire agreement and the immediate withdrawal of
Russian and Georgian forces. Russia has already rejected the text.
"The council is not ready to adopt either of the
resolutions," Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers told reporters.
"These is a strong sense that the council should
continue to work for consensus," Sawers said. "In order to do that, there needs
to be clarity about Russian intention and Russian withdrawal," Sawers
said.
Russian troops and armored vehicles pull
out from the city of Gori, Georgia, Aug. 18, 2008. (Xinhua/Shen
Bohan) Photo
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MOSCOW, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia has
kept moving troops out of Georgia and strived to fulfill its promise in a
cease-fire agreement of withdrawing its forces from the Caucasus neighbor after
several days of military conflicts. Full story
BRUSSELS, Aug. 21
(Xinhua) -- NATO said on Thursday it had been informed by Russia of its decision
to halt international military cooperation with NATO member states until further
notice, a spokeswoman of the military alliance said.
Russia's move came after the 26-member military bloc
warned on Tuesday of a chill in relations with Russian unless Moscow immediately
withdrew from occupied positions in South Ossetia, a breakaway autonomous
republic of Georgia. Full story
BRUSSELS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia's ambassador to NATO
Dmitry Rogozin warned Wednesday NATO against filling the gap of losses of the
Georgian military incurred in its conflict with Russia.
"Any attempt of NATO to fill the gap of losses of the
Georgian army contradicts the conventions of the OSCE (Organization of Security
and Cooperation in Europe)," Rogozin told reporters. Full story
MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev said Tuesday Moscow will withdraw its troops from Georgia by Friday
under the terms of a French-brokered peace plan, the Kremlin said in a
statement.
"Some of the peacekeepers will be pulled back to the
temporary security zone by Aug. 22," Medvedev told his French counterpart
Nicolas Sarkozy by phone. Full story
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security
Council concluded on late Tuesday afternoon its emergency consultations on
Georgia without reaching any agreement.
During the open meeting, UN political chief Lynn Pascoe
and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet
briefed the council on the latest developments in Georgia. Full story
MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian troops have begun
pulling out of Georgia in line with the French-brokered six-point peace plan, a
senior Russian military official said Tuesday.
"We shall comply with all of the six items of the plan at
a pace the situation allows for," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of
the Russian General Staff, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying. Full story
