Word: russia
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Both the U.S. and Georgian governments later denied that any negotiations were being held. But State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the U.S. had not ruled out rearming Georgia, whose military was crushed during its brief war with Russia last August. The possibility of such a deal, or even the discussion of it, puts the Obama Administration in a difficult position, forced to choose between a reset of relations with Russia or indulging Saakashvili's request. "It is a huge political mistake to support Saakashvili. By giving him weapons, the U.S. would be putting guns in the hands...
Biden's trip to Ukraine and Georgia was designed to balance Obama's Moscow visit. Washington wanted to reassure Russia's two neighbors that the U.S. has not forgotten them or their bids to join NATO without unduly annoying Moscow. (Read "Obama Treads Lightly on Democracy in Russia...
...Georgia's breakaway regions, "there is no military option to reintegration ... Only a peaceful and prosperous Georgia has the prospect of restoring [its] territorial integrity by showing those in Abkhazia and South Ossetia a Georgia where they can be free and their communities can flourish." (See more on Georgia-Russia relations...
...those who will likely eclipse him are less inclined to push ahead on the NATO front. "If you choose to be part of Euro-Atlantic integration - which I believe you have - then we strongly support that," Biden said in a speech after talks with Yushchenko. Biden also explicitly rejected Russia's "19th century" talk of spheres of influence. "We don't recognize, and I want to reiterate this, any spheres of influence. We do not recognize anyone else's right to dictate to any other country what alliance it should seek to belong to or what relationships, bilateral relationships...
...what influence means may well be different from Washington's. Nations should be allowed to choose their partners, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said, but "it is important that this be done transparently, without under-the-carpet games and not at the expense of others' interests." United Russia's Markov said Russia does not want a sphere of influence, but that historically, Russia has a "privileged interest" in Georgia and Ukraine and that in order for U.S.-Russian relations to be reset, "the U.S. has to recognize Russia's legitimate interests - that Russia has the right...