Medvedev Tells EU Russia to Hit Back at Hostile Acts (Update1)
By Henry Meyer
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Russia will retaliate against any hostile acts, President Dmitry Medvedev said on the eve of an emergency European Union summit meeting aimed at pressuring Russian forces to pull out of Georgia.
``We will defend the interests of our business community abroad and everyone must understand that if someone commits aggressive acts, we will respond,'' Medvedev said in an interview with Russian state television channels broadcast today.
``Russia doesn't want confrontation, it doesn't want isolation,'' Medvedev said at his official residence in Sochi, a southern resort. ``They have a choice,'' he said, referring to Europe and the U.S. The Russian leader said he did not rule out imposing economic sanctions if needed.
The EU is seeking measures to persuade Russia to withdraw its army from Georgia, a U.S. ally that was routed in a five-day war. The bloc relies on Russia for one-quarter of its natural gas and is unlikely to impose sanctions, shying away from open conflict.
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the 27-member EU to review ties with Russia. The group must ``intensify'' support for ``Georgia and others who may face Russian aggression,'' he said in a commentary in the Observer, a U.K. newspaper.
Brown said the Group of Seven industrialized nations should consider meeting more regularly, thus excluding Russia, which belongs to the Group of Eight with the U.K., U.S., Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada and France.
`Rights and Responsibilities'
``My message to Russia is simple: if you want to be welcome at the top table of organizations such as the G-8, OECD and WTO, you must accept that with rights and responsibilities,'' Brown said. Russia ``cannot pick and choose which rules to adhere to.''
The U.S. has indicated that Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization, the body that sets global trade rules, may be in jeopardy. Russia also wants to join the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Georgia is of strategic importance to the West because it lies on the route of a pipeline carrying Caspian crude to Europe.
Prime ministers of three eastern European countries -- Slovenia, Latvia and the Czech Republic -- said today sanctions shouldn't be imposed. They called for Russia to respect the peace plan it signed with Georgia, brokered by France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, and to respect Georgia's territorial integrity.
Common Approach
``Sanctions against Russia would not achieve anything and I hope there won't be any,'' Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel told reporters at the Alpine resort of Bled today. ``I hope the EU will have a common stance, but it's all about what level of a common approach we can agree upon tomorrow. We don't foresee smooth sailing.''
The bloc is divided between a group led by Germany, France and Italy that wants to avoid any split with Russia, and eastern European nations that have experienced Soviet occupation and are backed by the U.K.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the crisis had to be solved ``quickly,'' while accusing some European governments and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of ignoring Moscow's overtures toward a joint security arrangement.
Russia has invited European governments to send more observers to the Russian security zone set up in and around Georgia proper.
South Ossetia
Russia and Georgia, which is seeking membership of NATO, fought a war earlier this month after Georgian forces tried to take control of the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia on Aug. 26 recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist Georgian region, drawing condemnation from world leaders.
The cease-fire agreement called for both sides to withdraw to pre-conflict positions, allowing Russian forces only to patrol a security zone extending a few kilometers deep into Georgia proper from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The EU wants to maintain its dialogue with Russia while intending to be firm, a French presidential aide said Aug. 29. Officials might discuss later, possibly before an EU-Russia summit in Nice on Nov. 14, whether to slow talks with Russia on closer economic ties or to delay loosening their visa policies, the aide said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at [email protected]
Last Updated: August 31, 2008 13:09 EDT
By Henry Meyer
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Russia will retaliate against any hostile acts, President Dmitry Medvedev said on the eve of an emergency European Union summit meeting aimed at pressuring Russian forces to pull out of Georgia.
``We will defend the interests of our business community abroad and everyone must understand that if someone commits aggressive acts, we will respond,'' Medvedev said in an interview with Russian state television channels broadcast today.
``Russia doesn't want confrontation, it doesn't want isolation,'' Medvedev said at his official residence in Sochi, a southern resort. ``They have a choice,'' he said, referring to Europe and the U.S. The Russian leader said he did not rule out imposing economic sanctions if needed.
The EU is seeking measures to persuade Russia to withdraw its army from Georgia, a U.S. ally that was routed in a five-day war. The bloc relies on Russia for one-quarter of its natural gas and is unlikely to impose sanctions, shying away from open conflict.
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the 27-member EU to review ties with Russia. The group must ``intensify'' support for ``Georgia and others who may face Russian aggression,'' he said in a commentary in the Observer, a U.K. newspaper.
Brown said the Group of Seven industrialized nations should consider meeting more regularly, thus excluding Russia, which belongs to the Group of Eight with the U.K., U.S., Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada and France.
`Rights and Responsibilities'
``My message to Russia is simple: if you want to be welcome at the top table of organizations such as the G-8, OECD and WTO, you must accept that with rights and responsibilities,'' Brown said. Russia ``cannot pick and choose which rules to adhere to.''
The U.S. has indicated that Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization, the body that sets global trade rules, may be in jeopardy. Russia also wants to join the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Georgia is of strategic importance to the West because it lies on the route of a pipeline carrying Caspian crude to Europe.
Prime ministers of three eastern European countries -- Slovenia, Latvia and the Czech Republic -- said today sanctions shouldn't be imposed. They called for Russia to respect the peace plan it signed with Georgia, brokered by France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, and to respect Georgia's territorial integrity.
Common Approach
``Sanctions against Russia would not achieve anything and I hope there won't be any,'' Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel told reporters at the Alpine resort of Bled today. ``I hope the EU will have a common stance, but it's all about what level of a common approach we can agree upon tomorrow. We don't foresee smooth sailing.''
The bloc is divided between a group led by Germany, France and Italy that wants to avoid any split with Russia, and eastern European nations that have experienced Soviet occupation and are backed by the U.K.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the crisis had to be solved ``quickly,'' while accusing some European governments and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of ignoring Moscow's overtures toward a joint security arrangement.
Russia has invited European governments to send more observers to the Russian security zone set up in and around Georgia proper.
South Ossetia
Russia and Georgia, which is seeking membership of NATO, fought a war earlier this month after Georgian forces tried to take control of the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia on Aug. 26 recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist Georgian region, drawing condemnation from world leaders.
The cease-fire agreement called for both sides to withdraw to pre-conflict positions, allowing Russian forces only to patrol a security zone extending a few kilometers deep into Georgia proper from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The EU wants to maintain its dialogue with Russia while intending to be firm, a French presidential aide said Aug. 29. Officials might discuss later, possibly before an EU-Russia summit in Nice on Nov. 14, whether to slow talks with Russia on closer economic ties or to delay loosening their visa policies, the aide said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at [email protected]
Last Updated: August 31, 2008 13:09 EDT
