NATO Freezes Russian Ties Over Georgia

A Russian military vehicle rolls past a house set on fire by South Ossetian militia in the Georgian village of Kvemo-Achebeti outside the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, August 18, 2008. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)

NATO Freezes Russian Ties Over Georgia -- Yahoo News/Reuters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO agreed after U.S. pressure on Tuesday to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal.

The alliance also agreed to upgrade contacts with Tbilisi but stopped short of accelerating its efforts to join NATO, an ambition which had enraged Russia even before the two-week-old conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region.

"We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual," the 26 NATO states said in a joint declaration issued after emergency talks in Brussels.

The statement did not explicitly refer to a U.S. demand to suspend contacts within the six-year-old NATO-Russia Council (NRC), but NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said it was clear such contacts could not take place at present.

"As long as Russian forces are basically occupying a large part of Georgia I cannot see a NATO-Russia Council convening at whatever level," he told a news conference.

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More News On Nato And Russian Relations

NATO: Russia not honoring cease-fire terms -- CNN
Analysis: NATO grapples with the angry bear -- CNN
NATO: Cooperation with Russia depends on troop pullout -- USA Today
NATO pulls its punches on penalty against Russia -- Yahoo News/AP
Russia hits back at Nato warning -- BBC
Nato offers scant comfort for Georgia over conflict with Russia -- Telegraph

My Comment: If nothing changes within a week ... expect more sanctions and freezing of contacts between Europe and Russia. The longer this crisis continues, the more damaged Russia's relations will be with everyone.