Russia Puts Pressure On Georgia In UN

Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin (file photo) (epa) October 4, 2006 -- Russia's UN ambassador has submitted a draft resolution to the Security Council linking the future of a UN observer mission in Georgia with demands that Tbilisi stop "provocative actions" over the breakaway Abkhazia region.

The UN has had observers in Georgia since 1993 monitoring a cease-fire between Georgia and Abkhazia.


The mission's mandate expires on October 15.


The move comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi, triggered when Georgia arrested four Russian officers last week and accused them of spying.


Georgia released the four on October 3, but Russia has severed all travel links with Georgia in retaliation.


(AFP, AP)

Moscow And Tbilisi

Moscow And Tbilisi

Russian military hardware being withdrawn from a Russian base in Batumi, Georgia, in August 2005 (TASS)

WHAT COMES NEXT? Although Russia is unlikely to push an aggressive military response to the current tensions with Georgia, it has a number of economic, political, and diplomatic options at its disposal. Already on October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin summoned his inner circle to weigh Moscow's options... (more)


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MORE: Coverage of the situation in Georgian from RFE/RL's Georgian Service and in Russian from RFE/RL's Russian Service.


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