Russian President Medvedev on collision course with U.S. over missiles and Georgia!
MOSCOW, Russia - July 9, 2008 -
Russia and the United States headed for confrontation on two fronts yesterday
as the Kremlin threatened to retaliate over a planned missile shield in Europe and
edged closer to open conflict with neighboring Georgia.
Georgia claimed that Russian fighter jets had invaded its airspace ahead of a visit to Tbilisi by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to offer support in its spiralling crisis with Moscow over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russia made no immediate response but accused Tbilisi’s pro-American government of involvement in a series of mysterious bomb attacks in the two regions in an attempt to provoke a new war.
“The actions of Tbilisi present a real threat to peace and security in the South Caucasus and put the region on the edge of a new armed conflict with unpredictable consequences,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
President Dmitri Medvedev warned of “retaliatory steps” after Dr. Rice sealed a deal to locate a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a missile defense shield. He said that Russia was “extremely upset” by the move.
But his tone was markedly more moderate than that of his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, who threatened to aim nuclear missiles at European states that took part in the project. Mr. Medvedev said at the G8 summit in Japan, “We will not be hysterical about this but we will think of retaliatory steps.”
The U.S. insists that the shield, which includes plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland, is aimed at rogue states such as Iran and does not threaten Russia. Moscow is adamant, however, that the project undermines its security.
