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Eight military ships including the flagship for Georgia's small maritime force were sunk by Russian forces during the hostilities. The missile cruiser Dioskuira stood with its hull under water and badly damaged communications masts protruding from the water. In Portugal, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia is "deepening its isolation" by not honoring commitments it has made regarding Georgia. The West's response to the Georgia conflict has thwarted Russia from achieving the "strategic objectives" it had when Moscow's recent, brief war with Georgia began, she said at a news conference in Portugal's capital before heading to Libya. Vice President Dick Cheney met with top Ukrainian leaders Friday, calling their country's relationship with the United States "very important" as Washington sought to reassure its allies in former Soviet states. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko emphasized that he shared the United States' critical view of Russian military intervention in Georgia. "We value our strategic bilateral relationship highly," Yushchenko said. "On the majority of the issues, including Georgia, we have an understanding with the United States." Yushchenko has pushed strongly for closer ties with the European Union and NATO. He has also objected to Russia using its ships stationed in Ukraine in the war, thus dragging Ukraine into the conflict, and condemned Russia's decision to recognize Georgia's separatist areas as independent states. Cheney also met separately with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, discussing regional security and efforts to diversify energy supplies. Cheney's visit came during a political crisis pitting Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, coalition partners, against one another, setting Ukraine's government teetering on the verge of collapse. Before Ukraine, Cheney visited oil-rich Azerbaijan and then Georgia, where Russia has recognized the independence of two breakaway regions: South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Washington announced US$1 billion in U.S. economic aid for Georgia earlier this week.
[Associated
Press;
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