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Richard Cheney: â€œWe insist on respect for territorial integrity principleâ€

09 September 2008 17:20 (UTC +04:00)

â€œThese lands, once held in the grip of a totalitarian empire, now stand proudly as independent nations -- setting their own course, and engaging the world with confidenceâ€, he said. â€œRecent occurrences in Georgia, beginning with the military invasion by Russia, have been flatly contrary to some of our most deeply held beliefs. Russian forces crossed an internationally recognized border into a sovereign state; fueled and fomented an internal conflict; conducted acts of war without regard for innocent life, killing civilians and causing the displacement of tens of thousands -- all this against a nation that has a democratically elected government and an orientation towards the West.
The United States and many in Europe have made clear that Russia’s actions are an affront to civilized standards and are completely unacceptableâ€, said Mr. Cheney.
The Vice President stated that Russia had taken the opposite course, by recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. â€œThis chain of aggressive moves and diplomatic reversals has only intensified the concern that many have about Russia’s larger objectives. For brutality against a neighbor is simply the latest in a succession of troublesome and unhelpful actions by the Russian government.
In Central Asia, the Caucasus, and beyond, Russia has continued to use energy as a tool of force and manipulationâ€, he said. â€œIt’s unfortunately the case that Russia’s leaders regard the expansion of free governments and democratic values as a threat to their country’s own interests. How, exactly, those interests are broadly defined is a matter of opinion. Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister and president of Georgia, said, "The goal of Russia is to restore the influence that it had during the Soviet period and during the empire period." Prime Minister Putin has bluntly stated that he regards "the demise of the Soviet Union [as] the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [twentieth] century", he noted. â€œIn Georgia, we have provided unambiguous support to the people and to their elected government. We’ve given a strong response that is rooted in historical memory and common sense. We know that if one country is allowed to unilaterally redraw the borders of another, it will happen -- and it will happen again. We know that if we permit a new line to be drawn across Europe, that line will be drawnâ€, said the US Vice President.
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