Putin Accuses U.S. of Encouraging Tbilisi to Attack S.Ossetia

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has alleged that the United States not only failed to restrain the Georgian leadership from launching hostilities in South Ossetia, but that it even encouraged Tbilisi to attack Tskhinvali.

“I hoped that the U.S. administration would intervene to stop the aggression of the Georgian leadership, but nothing of this kind happened,” he said in an interview with CNN aired on August 28.

He then said that the U.S. administration’s failure to restrain the Georgian authorities had “damaged our relations.”

“But the thing is that not only has the U.S. administration failed to restrain the leadership from committing this criminal act, but in fact it equipped and trained the Georgian army,” he said.

“Even during the Cold War, during the time of tough confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, we always avoided direct clashes between our citizens and servicemen. We have serious reasons to believe that directly in the combat zone citizens of the United States were present. And if that is the case, a suspicion arises that someone in the United States has on purpose created this conflict to worsen the situation and create an advantage in the competitive struggle for one of the presidential candidates in the United States.”

When asked what evidence he had for leveling such allegations, Putin responded: “I’ve told you that if the facts are confirmed that U.S. citizens were present in the area of conflict during the hostilities that means only one thing, that they could be there only on the direct instructions of their leadership and if that is so, it means that the American citizens were in the combat zone performing their duties and they can only do that following direct orders from their leaders and not on their own initiative.”

“Ordinary experts even if they are providing training in military matters should do that not in the combat zone, but in training centers. I repeat, that needs to be further checked out; I am saying this based on what our military told me.”

The White House has denied the Russian prime minister’s allegations, saying they were “patently false.”

“It also sounds like his defense officials who said they believed this to be true are giving him really bad advice,” Dana Perino, a White House spokesperson, said on August 28.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on August 28 that it was “well known” who had helped the Georgian authorities and “even encouraged” them to launch military hostilities against South Ossetia.

Medvedev made the remarks in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, where a meeting of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held.

The organization, involving China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, said in its final declaration: “The SCO states express grave concern in connection with the recent tensions around the South Ossetia issue and urge the sides to solve existing problems peacefully, through dialogue, and to make efforts facilitating reconciliation and talks.”

It, however, also welcomed Russia’s “positive role” in promoting peace in the region.

“The SCO leaders welcomed the six-point proposal on solving the conflict which was reached in Moscow on August 12, expressing their support for Russia’s positive role in promoting peace and cooperation in the region,” the declaration reads, according to the Chinese official news agency, Xinhua.