US slams Russian recognition of breakaway areas

[August 27, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Tuesday blasted Russia's formal recognition of two separatist Georgian provinces, calling it "irrational" behavior that is rejected by the world.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the U.S. would use its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to make sure Russia's move is "dead on arrival" in the international forum.

"Russia is making, I would say, a number of irrational decisions," Fratto said from Crawford, Texas, where the Russian conflict continues to hang over President Bush's quiet time at his ranch.

The president was expected to issue a written statement on the matter later Tuesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday that his country will grant diplomatic recognition to the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. By doing so, Medvedev rebuffed President Bush's plea to him of just a day earlier.

Medvedev said Georgia forced Russia's hand by trying to reassert control by force in the smaller of the two regions, South Ossetia, on Aug. 7. The self-governing regions seek independence from Georgia and eventual annexation by Russia.

Fratto said the conflict is not solely between the U.S. and Russia, as other world leaders spoke up Tuesday to condemn Russia's stand behind the breakaway regions.

"We hope that they hear the loud voices from the international community and understand that it's not in their long-term interests to take these kinds of actions," Fratto said.

Vice President Cheney leaves next week on a trip that includes a stop in Georgia; Fratto said that no U.S. officials plan to go Russia to appeal directly to leaders there.

"The Russians know their obligations and I don't know that it requires anyone going to Russia to inform them of it," he said.

Meanwhile, the United States dispatched a military ship bearing aid to a Georgian port city still patrolled by Russian troops.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia has no business declaring the provinces independent of U.S.-backed Georgia while the United Nations Security Council on which Russia sits has declared that the regions are part of Georgia.

"I think it is regrettable," Rice said when asked at a news conference in Ramallah, West Bank about Russia's announcement. "It puts Russia of course in opposition to a number of Security Council resolutions to which it is party, most appallingly as a member of the P-5."

She was using the shorthand for the permanent five members of the powerful Security Council: the U.S, Britain, France, China and Russia. All have veto power.

Rice said the U.S. regards Abkhazia and South Ossetia as "part of the internationally recognized borders of Georgia."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. is looking at a variety of options to respond.

"We're not trying to escalate anything," Wood said when asked whether disagreement between the West and Russia would jeopardize international cooperation. But, he added, "We obviously can't allow what Russia's done to go without there being some consequences."

He would not provide details about possible punishment the U.S. is considering.

Russian tanks and troops drove deep into undisputed Georgian territory in a five-day war that Moscow saw as a justified response to a military threat in its backyard and the West viewed as a repeat of Soviet-style intervention.

The U.S. has said Russia is not fully complying with a cease-fire signed more than a week ago. Rice noted that the cease-fire calls for international input to settle the future of the two breakaway regions.

Russian forces have staked out positions beyond the de-facto borders of the separatist regions, which the U.S. and other Western nations call a cease-fire violation.

"While there have been some significant Russian movements, they are not yet living up to the terms of the cease-fire agreement," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday.

He said there still is a "sizable Russian presence in Georgia," though he declined to discuss the specific locations of the remaining troops.

Angering Russia, the U.S. sent the missile destroyer USS McFaul to the southern Georgian port of Batumi, well away from the conflict zone, to deliver 34 tons of humanitarian aid on Sunday. The McFaul left Batumi on Tuesday but would remain in the Black Sea area, said Commander Scott Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas, meanwhile, was headed for Georgia with a shipment of aid. It may try to enter Poti.

[Associated Press; By PAULINE JELINEK]

Associated Press writer Ben Feller contributed to this story from Crawford, Texas.

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