Brussels, 02/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - Russian authorities in Brussels have been positive in their reaction to the conclusions of Monday's extraordinary Council. Speaking to press on Tuesday 2 September, the Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov, in an echo the Heads of States' conclusions, underlined the importance of continued dialogue between the EU and Russia. He maintained, however, that his country had already complied with the 6-point plan approved by the Georgian and Russian Presidents, including with regard to the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia.
Chizhov welcomed that “the prevailing position of the EU is that they are committed to continuing this dialogue and promoting a strategic partnership with Russia”. All the more so, he added, since “we (the Russians) need this new agreement as much as the EU does,” referring to negotiations on renewing the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA). In the light of Monday's conclusions, Chizhov said that he did not expect the meeting scheduled for 15 September to take place on that date.
The Council has made resumption of SPA talks conditional on the withdrawal of Russian troops from those parts of Georgia which they did not occupy before 7 August. Chizhov argued, however, that “all the additional Russian forces have retreated from Georgia”, without giving any details of what he meant by “additional” or “Georgia”. He added that “only a small contingent of peacekeepers has stayed in the buffer zone” and that the Russian military presence in the port of Poti was no more than a control post, “with the sole purpose of monitoring whether the sea port is being used for the transport of weapons”. (C.D./transl.rt)