Lavrov: S. Ossetia, Kosovo very different

The Russian operation in S.Ossetia was different from the NATO attack on Serbia in 1999, Sergei Lavrov says. In an article for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Russian foreign minister writes that in 1999, once the air bombardment campaign ran out of military targets, “it degenerated into attacks on bridges, TV towers, passenger trains and other civilian sites, even hitting an embassy.” Lavrov: S. Ossetia, Kosovo very different In this instance, Russia used force in full conformity with international law, its right to self-defense, and its obligations under agreements with regard to conflict in South Ossetia. "Russia could not allow its peacekeepers to watch acts of genocide committed in front of their eyes, as happened in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica in 1995," Lavrov states. The minister praises the Russian military and says that it acted efficiently and professionally. “It was an able ground operation that quickly achieved its very clear and legitimate objectives,” writes Lavrov, Itar-Tass news agency reports. "We'll continue to seek to deprive the present Georgian regime of the potential and resources to do more mischief," Lavrov says, adding that Russia could introduce an arms embargo on the current Tbilisi regime. "An embargo on arms supplies to the current Tbilisi regime would be a start," the minister says, affirming Moscow’s decisiveness to implement the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan endorsed in Moscow on August 12. He states that Russia is not convinced that Georgia is willing to cooperate. Lavrov writes that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili keeps trying to persuade the world that the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was destroyed not by the Georgian attack, but by the Russian forces who, according to Saakashvili, bombed the city after they entered it. “Russia is committed to the ongoing positive development of relations with the U.S. ," he says, adding that bilateral relations between Russia and the U.S. can only move forward upon the basis of reciprocity. The Russian foreign minister says that he has found recent signals coming from Washington to be ominous. “Several joint military exercises have been cancelled by the Americans,” he says, adding that Washington is threatening to freeze bilateral strategic dialogue with Russia. Commenting on the U.S. decision to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe and on the future of the strategic arms reduction regime, Lavrov says that the very threat to drop those issues from the U.S.-Russia bilateral agenda is very indicative of the cost of the choice being made in Washington in favor of the discredited regime in Tbilisi. “To begin down the road of cooperation, it would not be a bad idea [for the U.S.]to do a very simple thing: Just admit for a moment that the course of history must not depend entirely on what the Georgian president is saying,” he stresses.

Lavrov: S. Ossetia, Kosovo very different

In this instance, Russia used force in full conformity with international law, its right to self-defense, and its obligations under agreements with regard to conflict in South Ossetia.

"Russia could not allow its peacekeepers to watch acts of genocide committed in front of their eyes, as happened in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica in 1995," Lavrov states.

The minister praises the Russian military and says that it acted efficiently and professionally. “It was an able ground operation that quickly achieved its very clear and legitimate objectives,” writes Lavrov, Itar-Tass news agency reports.

"We'll continue to seek to deprive the present Georgian regime of the potential and resources to do more mischief," Lavrov says, adding that Russia could introduce an arms embargo on the current Tbilisi regime.

"An embargo on arms supplies to the current Tbilisi regime would be a start," the minister says, affirming Moscow’s decisiveness to implement the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan endorsed in Moscow on August 12.

He states that Russia is not convinced that Georgia is willing to cooperate.

Lavrov writes that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili keeps trying to persuade the world that the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was destroyed not by the Georgian attack, but by the Russian forces who, according to Saakashvili, bombed the city after they entered it.

“Russia is committed to the ongoing positive development of relations with the U.S. ," he says, adding that bilateral relations between Russia and the U.S. can only move forward upon the basis of reciprocity.

The Russian foreign minister says that he has found recent signals coming from Washington to be ominous. “Several joint military exercises have been cancelled by the Americans,” he says, adding that Washington is threatening to freeze bilateral strategic dialogue with Russia.

Commenting on the U.S. decision to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe and on the future of the strategic arms reduction regime, Lavrov says that the very threat to drop those issues from the U.S.-Russia bilateral agenda is very indicative of the cost of the choice being made in Washington in favor of the discredited regime in Tbilisi.

“To begin down the road of cooperation, it would not be a bad idea [for the U.S.]to do a very simple thing: Just admit for a moment that the course of history must not depend entirely on what the Georgian president is saying,” he stresses.