Nato ministers demand withdrawal of troops

Nato foreign ministers stood behind Georgia at a crisis meeting today, demanding Russian troops withdraw.

Dozens of refugees and activists yelling 'Russia out" wave Georgia's flag while marching towards a Russian check-point near Kaspi, on the road from Tbilisi to Gori.

Nato foreign ministers threw their weight behind a battered Georgia at a crisis meeting today and demanded a withdrawal of Russian troops but stopping short of imposing a diplomatic freeze on Moscow. The 26 Nato nations agreed to tough language towards Russia due to Moscow's failure to withdraw its troops from Georgia, a French diplomat said. However, a column of Russian armoured vehicles was seen today pulling out of the Georgian city of Gori following orders to pull back to Russia, a reporter said.

The NATO meeting was called by the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in Brussels with a firm line for Moscow. "We are going to send the message that we are not going to allow Russia to draw a new line at those states that are not yet integrated into the transatlantic structures, like Georgia and Ukraine," Ms Rice said. "We are determined to deny them (the Russians) their strategic objective."

Washington, which has stressed it cannot be "business as usual" with Russia following its action in Georgia, has called for a full review of NATO ties with Moscow, including dialogue on counter-terrorism and missile defence. The crisis over Russia's muscular response to Georgia's attempt to wrest back control of the Moscow-backed separatist enclave of South Ossetia has sent East-West relations plunging to one of the lowest points since the Cold War.

The fighting had also threatened to drive a new wedge through the West's premier military alliance, between those taking Russia to task and those warning against antagonising the politically powerful, energy-rich giant. Several foreign ministers arriving at the NATO headquarters stressed the importance of Russia honouring the terms of a ceasefire deal agreed with Georgia, brokered by the French EU presidency.

While backing a firm tone, the British foreign secretary David Miliband was among those cautioning against diplomatic isolation of a resurgent Russia. "The right response is hard-headed engagement," Mr Miliband told reporters as he arrived, stressing that NATO expected Russia to live up to its commitment to pull out of Georgia "immediately". As Russian armoured vehicles pulled out of the Georgian city of Gori, Moscow's NATO envoy insisted that their full withdrawal would depend on the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

"The complete withdrawal depends on the policy of Saakashvili and the action of his forces," Dmitri Rogozin told France Inter radio by telephone from Brussels. The German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country has kept the lines of communication to Moscow open during the crisis, said Russia must pull back its troops from Georgia proper. "We are pressing Russia to withdraw its troops at least from the heart of Georgia to make it possible for talks on a durable ceasefire," Mr Steinmeier told reporters.

"The most important thing at the moment is to consolidate the situation which is still fragile and to bring about a lasting ceasefire." NATO must "ensure Russia does not learn the wrong lessons from the events of the last two weeks. Force cannot be the basis for the demarcation of new lines around Russia," he said. In one sign of progress, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe won both Russian and Georgian agreement to send 20 military observers to Georgia, the Finnish foreign minister, Alexander Stubb, the group's chairman, said.

Ms Rice agreed there would be no radical break with Moscow, with cooperation continuing on urgent issues such as contending with the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea. The Georgian foreign minister, Eka Tkeshelashvili, who arrived for bilateral talks with NATO foreign ministers, said she was confident the alliance would rally behind Tbilisi. "We expect an evaluation of what has happened in Georgia and the ways NATO can help," she said.

A Western diplomat said NATO may also agree to create a "NATO-Georgia commission" alongside a promise to review in December Tbilisi's bid for membership of the Alliance. *AFP