Update10 Sarkozy plans Moscow EU-peace mission : Tanks roll into Georgian breakaway

Section closed now thanks for comments......

European viewpoint: what russian tanks mean!
Russia attacks, no clear situation up to now.
cnn video: russian tanks moving

Update10 Sarkozy plans Moscow EU-peace mission 

Sarkozy plans Moscow EU-peace mission
Sarkozy is the current president of the European Union

Saakashvili signed the cease-fire proposal. The foreign ministers of France and Finland will deliver it to Russian officials Monday evening. Mr. Stubb guided the OSCE and is familiar with Russia. Sarkozy can plan now for the EU his peace mission to Moscow, where he will meet russian president Medvedev for peace talks for Georgia. Good luck!

Update9 EU meets Saakaschwili 4-STEP PLAN

AUG-11
Saakaschwili signed Ceasefire agreement EU
Russian president Medwedjew, military action
in  South Ossetia soon at an end. Saakaschwili
said the war is all about the control of the oil pipeline.

EU Kouchner/Stubb meet Saakaschwili Tiflis 4-step plan:
1) Ceasefire, 2) Injured to hospitals 3) Troops retreat 4) Negotiations
Kouchner: we are not investigating, we offer crisis management....

11/08/2008 | Mise à jour : 09:04 Quote:| .
Le président géorgien Mikheïl Saakachvili "a accepté à peu près toutes les propositions" de l'Union européenne et de l'OSCE pour arrêter le conflit avec la Russie, a déclaré le chef de la diplomatie française Bernard Kouchner, en mission de médiation à Tbilissi, à la radio RTL. source AFP/LeFigaro

Update8  Peace mission Stubb/Kouchner EU arrive

AUG-10/11
CNBC MEET THE PRESS: "EUROPE WILL FIGURE IT OUT"

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb arrived on a peace mission. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the rotating European Union presidency, called for both sides to stand down and for "the full respect of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
source: TF1-TV, CNBC-TV

Update7:  Russian Navy Blockade  missile cruiser Moskva

Chinese viewpoint quote:
Russian Navy Blockade Georgia: Report
2008-08-10 18:37:58 Xinhua
Russian warships had arrived at Georgian Black Sea coast to prevent weapons from landing by sea, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian navy source as saying Sunday.
"The crews were assigned the task to not allow arms and military hardware supplies to reach Georgia by sea," the source told Interfax. The Black Sea Fleet comprises missile cruiser Moskva, patrol boat Smetlivy, three large amphibious ships and logistics ships, the source said. Meanwhile, the Abkhaz law enforcement agencies confirmed that several Georgian warships attempted on Saturday to approach the coast of Abkhazia. But the attempts were curbed by ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
source: english.cri.cn

Update6/5: EU/US for Peace, oil pipeline war  

Aug-10-08 quote:
Georgian forces leave South Ossetian Capital
The Georgian military has pulled its troops from the capital of separatist province South Ossetia as thousands of Russian troops moved into the area, military officials confirmed Sunday source: cnn

AUG-08 quote
OIL Conflict widens to turkey PKK terrorists explode..
PKK terrorist organization has assumed responsibility for explosion of Turkish part of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, APA reports quoting Turkey’s Cihan agency.
source: Turkey’s Cihan agency - quote Fire on pipeline turkish part source: china view

The Pipeline War:
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline runs for 1,000 miles through three countries between the Caspian and Mediterranean seas. The war in Georgia escalated last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West. Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs missed their target.Russian jets struck devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies.

The joint delegation of the US, EU and the OSCE  Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe is due to visit Georgia on Saturday evening.Envoys hope to broker a deal.

Quote:
Saakashvili, a U.S.-educated lawyer, long pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia source: independant

Update4 quote: Georgia declares 'state of war' over South Ossetia

Georgia today declared itself at war as Russian planes bombed a Georgian city in an escalation of the conflict over South Ossetia. Moscow claims the fighting has killed more than 2,000 people. As world leaders including George Bush and Pope Benedict XVI called for calm, the neighbouring countries edged closer to a full-scale conflict over their conflicting claims and allegiances to the territory.
source: guardian

Update3 Russia controls capital
Quote Saturday August 09 2008 10:50 BST:
Russia claims control of South Ossetian capital
source: Guardian    videoexplainer:  

Update2 : Ceasefire group named
OSCE, the European Union and the United States will travel to Georgia to reach a ceasefire as quickly as possible,” France, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said in a statement. State Department officials said Washington was consulting with European allies about the possibility that a group of mediators could get involved.

Quote:

TBLISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday that Russian peacekeepers are "trying to force Georgians to cease fire" in the conflict over the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia, according to Russia's Interfax news agency. source cnn

Update: Fights go on, Moscow and Tbilisi fight with bombs, tanks and 1000  dead already

US Position:
The U.S. assured that their military personnel in Georgia is completely neutral in the conflict with Russia. The more than one hundred military trainers stationed in Georgia  were "in no way in the conflict between the Russian and Georgian military implicated," said Pentagon spokesman John Dorrian.

Russian president Medwedjew wants to "punish" Georgia
The conflict over South Ossetia appears to be a war between Russia and Georgia . Russian president Medwedjew said, he wants to punish the responsibles in the Area. Apparently Russian tanks are already on the Way to South Ossetia. The timing of the military agression of Georgia may go hand in hand with a possible attack of the Iran by the US.The Chinese are occupied with the Olympic games, for a moment they will keep out. Sakaschwilli/georgia is alive only with US financing.  He has no chance to fight a russian "invasion", and he knew the reaction before. Remember don't provoke the russians to go for holidays in a tank, they may like it, it's their home, like for tourists MCDO.

POPULAR POLITICS-MONEY-OIL Explainer:
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The problem boils down to Russia's support for South Ossetia's independence, essentially as a way to "stick it" to Georgia for its desire to move closer to the West by wanting to join the EU and NATO. (no south ossetia, no border with europe, no NATO)

Russia is also supporting Abkhazia's quest for independence. Interesting thing is that Russia has issued passports to many South Ossetians (and Abkhazians) and has used that as a rationale for invading Georgia: it needs to protect its citizens.

Russia also viewed quite unfavorably the West's recent recognition of Kosovo's independence, and wants to give the West a taste of its own medicine. "You guys want an independent Kosovo? Okay, then support a free South Ossetia!" Okay, let's free Chechnya!

The fact that there are two important (to the West, anyway) oil and gas pipelines running from Azerbaijan through Georgia adds additional intrigue.

Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, is seen as the top takeover-target of Georgia's military plans.
source: crowd opinions