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Last Updated: Oct 28th, 2008 - 17:57:18 |
The Russian and French presidents on Tuesday announced a six-point plan of principles for settling the immediate conflict in Georgia but stopped short of tackling the issues that sparked the violence.
"We have not achieved peace yet but we have achieved a provisional cease-fire of hostilities," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
The points include Russian agreements to conclude all military operations, return Russian armed forces to the line preceding the beginning of operations, and not use force again in Georgia.
In return Georgia would return its armed forces to their normal and permanent locations.
Both sides would provide free access for humanitarian assistance; and international consideration of the issues of South Ossetia and Abkhazia would be undertaken.
"All we need to do now is to stop suffering, stop the death of people," Sarkozy said. Stopping the fighting "is the most important objective."
He emphasized that the meeting with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev was not intended to solve all of the issues, such as Georgia's territorial integrity and South Ossetia's desire for independence.
"There are bigger problems relating to South Ossetia that we cannot resolve here," Sarkozy said, who arrived in Moscow as current head of the European Union.
Sarkozy said he and Medvedev agreed Georgia is an independent country and that Russia has no intention of annexing it, but Medvedev also said "sovereignty is based on the will of the people" and "territorial integrity can be demonstrated by the actual facts on the ground."
Medvedev said: "I think that these are some very good principles in order to resolve the problem which has arisen from this very dramatic situation and these principles can be used by Georgia and South Ossetia."
Medvedev said earlier that he had ordered an end to military operations against Georgia, but Tbilisi reported more attacks after the statement was made. Video Watch Georgia's reaction to halt in fighting »
Medvedev said: "The aggressor has been punished and has incurred very significant losses. Its armed forces are disorganized."
Meanwhile, thousands of Georgians rallied in the country's capital, Tbilisi, following Medvedev's announcement.
U.S. officials also told CNN it was considering flying aid from bases in Germany to Georgia. There was also consideration being given to sending U.S. Navy ships into the Black Sea to conduct humanitarian relief missions.
Violence has raged since Thursday when Georgia launched a crackdown on separatist fighters in autonomous South Ossetia, where most people have long supported independence.
Russia -- which supports the separatists -- responded Friday, sending tanks across its border into South Ossetia. The conflict quickly spread to parts of Georgia and to Abkhazia, another separatist region.
Russian said it wanted to stop Georgian military actions against its peacekeepers in the breakaway regions.
The Georgian government said despite Medvedev's announcement, Russian warplanes struck two Georgian villages and bombed an ambulance outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
The Russian Defense Ministry called the Georgian claims "informational provocations" and believed they would continue, Interfax reported.
Medvedev warned in his announcement that "when pockets of resistance and other aggressive actions occur," a decision concerning destruction had to be made.
Earlier a Georgian Interior Ministry official said Russian bombs had hit one of the three pipelines carrying oil to the Black Sea port of Poti. There was no oil in the pipeline at the time.
UK-based energy giant BP later said it had shut down two oil pipelines in the region as a "precautionary measure" linked to the security situation. None of its pipelines had been attacked.
A Dutch cameraman was killed on Tuesday morning in an incident in Gori, the Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed. He was identified as Stan Storimans, of RTL TV. The correspondent who accompanied him was also injured.
One Russian diplomat told CNN up to 2,000 people had died in the conflict. Up to 100,000 people are thought to have been displaced by the violence, which has left South Ossetia's capital Tskhinvali in ruins.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a Tuesday news conference that it wanted a demilitarized zone to be created in Georgian territory before a cease-fire could take effect.
The zone had to be big enough to prevent Georgia's military from attacking the breakaway province, he added.
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Lavrov said it would be best if Mikheil Saakashvili stepped down as Georgia's president -- something he has not offered to do -- but that Russia was not demanding his resignation.
He said Saakashvili's "barbaric and brutal action" had undermined trust in Georgia.
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