GEORGIA: Pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says Europe has made Georgia one of its main political issues

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (October 20) told European Union leaders that Georgia was risking bloodshed by considering military means to regain control of two separatist regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, brought to power after veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze was ousted in a bloodless revolution, said Putin's latest statement was little different from Russia's long-established post-Soviet line. "But there is a new Georgia now," he told reporters while touring a new airport in Tbilisi. "Europe is also different and has made Georgia one of its main political issues." Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the European Union (EU) is trying to mediate between Russia and Georgia to calm tension but has been unable to persuade their leaders to talk to each other so far. Putin said at the news conference he welcomed "signals" from Georgia that it was prepared to help defuse the tension, though he did not say what these were. During the summit, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili telephoned Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus to talk about his dispute with Moscow, the Lithuanian president's Web site said. Foreign Minister Bezhuashvili said he welcomed Putin's expression of interest in re-establishing a dialogue. Russia has imposed a virtual blockade on its former Soviet neighbour out of anger at Saakashvili's efforts to join the EU and NATO and the brief arrest of four Russian soldiers on spying charges. EU foreign ministers voiced unusually sharp criticism of Moscow in a statement this week.

ITN Source | October 22, 2006

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