Russia, Georgia claim truce violations

Russia and Georgia accused each other of violating a ceasefire in force since Tuesday afternoon as the European Union pressed ahead with a peace plan that ended a five-day Russian offensive.

Russia and Georgia accused each other of violating a ceasefire in force since Tuesday afternoon as the European Union pressed ahead with a peace plan that ended a five-day Russian offensive.

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Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russian tanks continue to operate within Georgia, destroying “infrastructure,” as Russia said it was responding to sporadic attacks by Georgian snipers while observing the terms of
a ceasefire declared by President Dmitry Medvedev.

The truce violations come as EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels to hammer out a deal on implementing a six-point peace plan that Russia and Georgia agreed to on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the George W. Bush administration may have ceded mediation duties between Russia and Georgia to Europe but is holding firm to its support for Georgia’s pro-Western leadership. It demanded that Moscow withdraw its troops from the former Soviet republic.

The US administration and its allies are also debating ways to punish Russia, including expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of wealthy nations and cancelling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise.