EU-Russia ties warmer after Georgia pullout
Russia and the EU got their relations back on track yesterday, when French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev had "kept his word" over Georgia.
Medvedev formally announced the withdrawal of Russian troops from two buffer zones in Georgia, two days before a deadline set by an EU-brokered peace deal. The completed pull-out was later confirmed by officials on the ground.
"This is a highly important development," Sarkozy told reporters after one-on-one talks with the Russian leader on the sidelines of an international policy conference in Evian, eastern France.
Under a peace accord brokered by Sarkozy as holder of the European Union presidency, Moscow's forces were required to pull back into two rebel regions in Georgia to positions they held before the August war with Tbilisi.
Both the Russian and French leaders stressed their determination to heal ties damaged by Russia's actions in Georgia.
Sarkozy told the conference Medvedev had "kept his word", saying the pull-out from rebel Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where 200 EU observers deployed last week, paved the way for talks to resume on an "ambitious" partnership.
"The full implementation of the accords... paves the way for the resumption of negotiations on an ambitious framework agreement" that would "lead the way towards a real human and economic common space," he said.
"Europe wants a strong Russia," Sarkozy said, arguing that the upheaval in world financial markets made it "essential" for the European Union to have strong ties with Russia.
The relationship -- put on ice by the 27-nation EU last month in protest at the Georgia conflict -- is up for review at an EU-Russia summit in November in the southern French city of Nice.
Sarkozy called in a United Nations speech last month for a common economic space uniting Europe and Russia.
The French president warned that both Russia and Georgia "must now refrain from any provocation on the ground."
But in a gesture towards Moscow, he backed its call for international talks on the Caucasus, opening in Geneva on October 15, to be all-inclusive, implying Georgia's two rebel regions could take part despite opposition from Tbilisi.
Russia last month recognised the two regions' independence from Georgia, in the face of strong protests from the West.
Medvedev repeated a call, made during a visit to Berlin in June, for a "regional pact" on European security to replace a system held over from the Cold War era.
Moscow's proposal has so far received a lukewarm welcome from the Europeans, who see it as a bid to rein in the influence of the United States and NATO on the continent.
In a concession to Russia, however, Sarkozy called for a summit to be held in late 2009 to discuss ways the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe could be "refounded".
Medvedev thanked the EU for playing a "constructive role" in the Georgia crisis, repeating a Russian call for EU observers to "play their role of guarantors... to prevent any provocation from the Tbilisi regime".
The two leaders also displayed their unity in the face of the turmoil gripping world financial markets.
In his speech, Medvedev backed Sarkozy's call for an enlarged Group of Eight meeting, including key emerging economies China, India and Brazil, to tackle the crisis.
"Russia will actively participate in the process of reestablishing the global financial system and not just within the framework of the G8," he said.
Trading was frozen Wednesday on Russia's stock markets after they plunged more than 11 percent, driven downward by huge falls in Asia, despite Moscow boosting a bank rescue package by 36 billion dollars (26.6 billion euros).
Comments