Rice: Russia Planned Invasion Months Ago

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on September 18 that Russia had laid the groundwork for a “premeditated invasion” of Georgia months ago, but also added that Tbilisi could have “responded better” to the August events.

Speaking at a German Marshal Fund in Washington, Rice said that on August 7, following “repeated violations of the ceasefire in South Ossetia, including the shelling of Georgian villages,” the Georgian authorities launched “a major military operation into Tskhinvali and other areas of the separatist region.”

“Regrettably, several Russian peacekeepers were killed in the fighting,” she said. “These events were troubling.”

“But the situation deteriorated further when Russia’s leaders violated Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – and launched a full scale invasion across an internationally-recognized border. Thousands of innocent civilians were displaced from their homes. Russia’s leaders established a military occupation that stretched deep into Georgian territory. And they violated the ceasefire agreement that had been negotiated by French and EU President Sarkozy.”

Russia’s actions were also “deeply disconcerting,” she continued.

“Its alarmist allegations of “genocide” by Georgian forces, its baseless statements about U.S. actions during the conflict, its attempt to dismember a sovereign country by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, its talk of having “privileged interests” in how it treats its independent neighbors, and its refusal to allow international monitors and NGOs into Abkhazia and South Ossetia, despite ongoing militia violence and retribution against innocent Georgians.”

“To be sure, Georgia’s leaders could have responded better to the events last month in South Ossetia, and it benefits no one to pretend otherwise. We warned our Georgian friends that Russia was baiting them, and that taking this bait would only play into Moscow’s hands,” Rice said. “But Russia’s leaders used this as a pretext to launch what, by all appearances, was a premeditated invasion of its independent neighbor. Indeed, Russia’s leaders had laid the groundwork for this scenario months ago – distributing Russian passports to Georgian separatists, training and arming their militias, and then justifying the campaign across Georgia’s border as an act of self-defense.”

She also said that the U.S. and Europe should stand together in order “not [to] allow Russia’s aggression to achieve any benefit. Not in Georgia – not anywhere.”

“The United States and Europe are continuing to support – unequivocally – the independence and territorial integrity of Russia’s neighbors. We will resist any Russian attempt to consign sovereign nations and free peoples to some archaic ‘sphere of influence,’” Rice added.

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