Update Georgia NATO membership yes, Merkel meets Saakashvili, russian troops start withdrawal

uploaded by SOLARLIFE August 17, 2008 at 11:17 am
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Update Georgia NATO membership yes, Merkel meets Saakashvili, russian troops start withdrawal by SOLARLIFE

Update AUG-17 18:OO GMT
German chancellor Angelika Merkel meets Saakashvilli at Tbilisi, NATO membership possible, more tuesday NATO conference. Russians "secure" Hydro power plant "Inguri" west georgia.

AUG-17
Quote:
German chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Georgia on Sunday and meets Saakashvili.

The Russian message would be that "we need stable peace in the Caucasus" and that would be possible only with Russian "peacemakers" in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, he (Russia's ambassador to Germany, Vladimir Kotenev) said on ZDF television — "we are prepared to negotiate with Georgia about these plans, but not with Mr. Saakashvili.""We have a strategic partnership with Germany and we want to preserve it," Kotenev said. source: Herald Tribune Europe

The Russian commander of frontline forces in Georgia has told the BBC that a gradual withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia is under way.
Maj Gen Vyacheslav Borisov said he had given the order for Russian soldiers to be replaced by peacekeepers.
A BBC correspondent said he saw Russian forces in position 35km (22 miles) from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on the road to Gori, close to South Ossetia.
Russia said it did not have a timetable for a full withdrawal from Gori.