Word: russias
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Russian officials were quick to claim that the report cleared them of culpability. "Who started the war? On that question the report gives an unequivocal answer," says Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's ambassador to the E.U. (See pictures of Russia celebrating Victory...
...Russia received its fair share of blame. The attack by Georgia was "the culminating point of a long period of increasing tensions, provocations and incidents," the report says. In the run-up to the war, Russia issued passports to South Ossetian citizens, which the investigators say "runs against the principles of good neighborliness and constitutes an open challenge to Georgian sovereignty and an interference in the internal affairs of Georgia." More ominously, the report notes that there seemed to be an "influx of volunteers or mercenaries" from Russia to South Ossetia in early August 2008. (See pictures of the Russians...
...Georgia said the investigation proved that Russia had been preparing for war all along. "We are glad that almost all the facts we have alleged have been confirmed, in particular that armed Russian units entered Georgia before August 7," says Salome Samadashvili, Georgia's ambassador to the E.U. "The report confirmed that Russia committed an act of aggression against a sovereign state, thus breaking the U.N. charter." (Read "In South Ossetia, Families Remain Torn Apart...
...Lawrence Sheets, Caucasus project director of the nonprofit organization Crisis Group, is skeptical about whether the report will change anything. "Russia has firmly re-established its geopolitical position in the region, so there is almost no prospect of Georgian reunification," he says. Since the cease-fire, Russian troops have effectively sealed the border between South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia, and increased their military presence in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But while Moscow has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations, only Nicaragua and Venezuela have followed suit...
...home and abroad since the conflict. However, street protests in April failed to topple him, and he still has friends in high places: the Obama Administration. Vice President Joe Biden visited Tbilisi in July and pledged continued U.S. support for efforts by Georgia and Ukraine to break free of Russia's orbit. (See pictures of Joe Biden...