Georgia And Russia Agree On Truce

Georgia, Russia Agree To Peace Plan: French Leader
-- Yahoo News/AFP

TBILISI (AFP) - Georgia and Russia have agreed to a peace plan brokered by France after Moscow ordered a halt to its military onslaught, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said here Wednesday.

"There is a text. It has been accepted in Moscow, it was accepted here in Georgia. I have the agreement of all the protagonists," Sarkozy said at an early morning news conference in the Georgian capital.

But Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at an early morning news conference with Sarkozy his country would not allow its territorial integrity to be put into doubt under any peace agreement.

"The territorial integrity and belonging of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to Georgia can never be put under doubt."

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More News On the Georgian And Russian Truce

Georgia and Russia agree on truce -- BBC News
Georgia peace deal all in the timing -- BBC News
Georgia agrees to Russian-French plan to settle conflict -- CNN
Russia and Georgia agree peace deal -- Scotsman
Russia and Georgia agree to truce -- Al Jazeera
Caucasus Truce: Now What? -- Business Week

My Comment: I was skeptical that Georgia would agree to a truce .... but they have. Kudos must go to the French Government and the EU for being the mediators in this dispute.

The end result of this conflict will be the defacto independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia .... but relations with these independent provinces and Georgia will be tense for years. Georgia will not be accepted as a member of Nato. Countries like the Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltics will now be examining measures that will insure their security ... what was a priority for them in the past is now on top of their agenda.

Tensions between Russia and its former republics will now be increasing as Russia tries to reassert its position in this part of the world. They will not be successful. This is going to be a family fight .... and like all outsiders we should not get involved directly.

Our strength has been always been the philosophy and principles that have made us the magnet for the whole world. Freedom of speech, religion, movement, politics, and commerce to name a few. To be an example to the world that this is the way to go. This moral support is significant .... it emboldens our friends, and demoralizes our foes. This is what the peoples in the Ukraine, Baltics, and Eastern Europe will be looking at us for ..... and we must deliver.

Enough preaching for tonight .....