MOSCOW, Aug. 25 (Chinese media) -- The conflict that erupted
overnight on Aug. 8 in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, not only
caused great damage to ties between Russia and Georgia, but also cast a shadow
over Russia's relations with the West.
With some western nations criticizing Russia for
failing to live up to its ceasefire agreement with Georgia, analysts remain
skeptical about whether the lingering Russia-West rift would heal anytime soon.
GREAT DAMAGE
Georgia launched attacks against South Ossetia in an
attempt to regain control of the breakaway region bordering Russia. In
retaliation, Moscow sent in troops that drove Georgian forces out of the region
and took over parts of Georgian territory.
Russia declared a halt to its military offensive in
Georgia on Aug. 12 after days of conflict in the region. Later, Moscow said it
had fulfilled the promise made in a French-brokered peace plan to withdraw its
troops from Georgia as of last Friday.
Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian
General Staff, said 64 Russian service personnel had been killed and 323 others
injured in the hostilities, while Givi Targamadze, head of the Georgian
parliament's defense and security committee, said his country lost 215 citizens,
including 13 policemen, 133 military personnel and 69 civilians.
South Ossetian authorities estimate that Georgia's
recent military operation in the region cost them some 100 billion rubles (4.1
billion U.S. dollars) in damages.
The conflict destroyed around 70 percent of the
buildings in Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, while gas and electricity
lines were cut off. The city's water supply utilities were also disrupted,
leaving locals without drinking water.
Early estimates by the authorities showed 1,492
residents had died in the attack, and some 37,000 had fled into Russia.
TOUGH RESPONSE
A foreign policy document approved by Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev and released in mid-July stated Russia considers it
essential to protect the legal interests of overseas Russians in line with the
international law and bilateral agreements.
Russia has undertaken a series of military reforms in
recent years, including the nomination of new senior officers, the raising of
military expenditure and renewal of weapons. In addition, it resumed strategic
bomber patrols over remote areas last year, 15 years after the long-range
maneuvers were suspended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, Russia has not launched a large-scale
military operation outside its territory since its troops pulled out of
Afghanistan in 1989.
A source in one of Russia's security bodies accused
Georgia of planning the military operation against South Ossetia since a year
ago, noting Georgian forces were trained by U.S. officers and equipped with
various types of western weapons.
It is a challenge for the Russian military to fight
with Georgian troops of this kind, but also a good chance to flex its military
muscle, analysts say.
While Georgia has been seeking NATO membership since
President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power, Russia has repeatedly warned
against NATO's eastward expansion.
Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the lower house of Russian
parliament, said Russia has the right to take counter measures if some countries
insist on joining the alliance at any cost.
South Ossetia, along with the other Georgian
breakaway region of Abkhazia, are seen by analysts as two important chips to
prevent NATO from expanding, so taking control over the two regions is one of
Russia's "counter measures."
RUSSIA-WEST TIES
Already under strain due to NATO's courting of
Ukraine and Georgia, and over U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in eastern
Europe, tensions between the alliance and Russia have further escalated since
the outbreak of the clashes in South Ossetia.
Last week, an emergency NATO foreign ministers'
meeting was held in Brussels to assess the situation in Georgia and discuss its
wider implications for Euro-Atlantic stability and security, as well as
prospects for future NATO-Russian relations.
After the talks, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer warned that the NATO-Russia Council will not convene at any level "as
long as Russian forces are basically occupying a large part of Georgia."
However, he said the alliance certainly does not
intend to cut off all contact and close all doors of communication with Russia,
but added that future relations "will depend on Russia."
The NATO ministers also reaffirmed their plans to
eventually accept Georgia, whose bid to join the group was rebuffed at the
alliance's April summit in Bucharest, as a member.
Soon after the NATO declaration, Russia announced it
would not participate in the NATO-led Open Spirit 2008 naval exercises in the
Baltic Sea, and would refuse to receive a U.S. warship in the far eastern port
of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Meanwhile, Russian-U.S. relations further
deteriorated due to Poland's recent signing of a deal to allow the deployment of
U.S. anti-ballistic missile components on its soil, a move Moscow regards a
threat to its national security.
The agreement, which brings to a close 18 months of
tough bargaining, gained momentum from the ongoing tension between Russia and
Georgia, according to Polish media.
However, given its dependence on Russia on such
international issues as anti-terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation, the United
States is not likely to take extreme action against Russia, analysts believe.
Likewise, Russia would not like a return to the Cold
War times as it is pursuing peaceful development.
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