U.S.: No Talks with Russia As NATO Demands Moscow Remove Troops from Georgia

Newsweek

NATO has demanded Russia remove its troops from two breakaway republics bordering Georgia, which has expressed a desire to join the Western military alliance.

Speaking on the last day of NATO’s foreign ministers conference in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the alliance was committed to the security of Georgia, a former Soviet republic that has battled the Russia-backed separatist movements of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The two northern entities have been recognized by a handful of states, but the U.S. and its Western European allies have accused Russia of undermining Georgia’s sovereignty with its support of these regions, a charge they have also lobbied against Moscow for its involvement in Ukraine.

“We discussed NATO’s strong commitment to Georgia’s security and territorial integrity and reviewed the many ways that Georgia and the alliance are working together,” Stoltenberg said.

“We remain concerned by the deepening of Russia’s relations with the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia. We call on Russia to end its recognition of these regions and withdraw its forces from Georgian territory,” he added.

RTX1JI6U Servicemen of the military forces of South Ossetia attend an oath of allegiance ceremony in Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region claimed by Georgia, on July 5, 2015. NATO has called on Russia to end support for the separatist governments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Kazbek Basaev/Reuters

As the Soviet Union began to collapse in 1991, Georgia declared its independence, but pro-Moscow Abkhazia and South Ossetia seceded by force. Russia continued to support the two rebel administrations throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, as intermittent clashes between Georgia and separatists worsened. In 2008, Georgia launched a full military campaign to reclaim the territories that was ultimately repelled with Russian support.

That same year, NATO pledged to eventually make Georgia a full member, but fears of Russian reprisal have delayed its accession. After Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and sponsored separatist movements amid a 2014 political uprising in neighboring Ukraine—another aspiring coalition member—NATO has taken a more hard-line stance against Moscow and has bolstered support for allies bordering Russia, especially the Baltic states and Poland.

Stoltenberg said Wednesday that NATO was backing Georgia’s “successful efforts to modernize its armed forces,” which have operated under NATO command in Afghanistan, and would take part in a 2019 NATO-Georgia joint military exercise. Such moves have been viewed by Russia as an expansionist project led by the U.S., whose top diplomat also appeared at the meeting.