Source:
Agence France-PresseWed Apr 30, 4:11 PM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - NATO warned Russia Wednesday to stop undermining Georgia's territorial integrity, after Moscow announced it would send more peacekeepers to two rebel Georgian regions.
Russia's move, to counter what it said was the massing of Georgian troops near Abkhazia and South Ossetia, raised concern in the United States while the European Union has said that any military build-up would not be wise.
"The steps that have been taken (by Russia) and the rhetoric that has been used concerning the threat of force have increased tensions and have undermined Georgia's territorial integrity," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said
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Russia objects to NATO moving closer to its borders and is deeply concerned that the breakaway regions could be destabilised by Tbilisi's rapprochement with Moscow's old Cold War-era foe.
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In a tit-for-tat measure, Tbilisi vowed Wednesday to block Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation unless it drops plans for direct trade links with the two regions.
The Russian peacekeeping announcement is only fuelling problems, said President Mikheil Saakashvili's new "special representative" and top Georgian diplomat, David Bakradze.
"It's hard to believe that this is being done for the purposes of peacekeeping, it's rather the beginning of full-scale military aggression," he told AFP by telephone during a trip to Brussels.
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