Medvedev says Russia is ready to begin peace talks with Georgia
The Russian president also orders a halt to his country's ongoing military action even as media reported that sites deep in the country continued to be bombed.
TBILISI, GEORGIA — Russia's president today said his country was ready to begin peace talks with Georgia to end a five-day conflict over pro-Russian separatist-minded enclaves along the two nations' Caucasus region border.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, today also ordered a halt to his country's ongoing military action against Western-backed Georgia even as it continued to bomb sites deep in the country and apparently continued its advance, according to media reports.
"The operation that the reinforced Russian peace-keeping contingent carried out has been completed because the goal that we set ourselves has been achieved," Medvedev said, according to the Russian Interfax news service. "The aggressor has been punished, and its armed forces have been disorganized."
Medvedev, speaking after a closed-door meeting in Moscow with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, said peace talks could commence provided Georgia return its troops to their original positions before the outbreak of hostilities five days ago over control of the breakaway pro-Russian enclave of South Ossetia and sign a "legally binding document" vowing not to use force.
But Medvedev also called on his armed forces to remain vigilant against any perceived Georgian provocations. In and around the key central Georgian city of Gori, Russian bombers struck hills and villages and fleeing residents reported that Russian soldiers had continued to advance deep into western Georgia, taking up positions in the area, even after the televised announcement.
And securing a lasting peace may prove difficult. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters today that Moscow rejects the U.S.-educated Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as a partner in peace discussions.
Moscow accuses Saakashvili of ordering his troops to try to retake South Ossetia by force in a move that the Kremlin says cost the lives of thousands of Russian passport holders as well as some peacekeepers stationed in the province.
"I don't think Moscow will be in the mood not only to hold talks, but even to speak to Saakashvili," Lavrov said at a news conference after talks with his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, according to Interfax. "He has committed crimes against our citizens. Our position is that Mr. Saakashvili can no longer be our partner. He'd better quit."
