Washington
08 August 2008
World leaders, as well as international organizations, have called for an end to fighting in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. VOA's Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera has this report from Washington.
South Ossetia along with another Georgian region - Abkhazia - declared their independence from Georgia in the mid 1990s. Georgia's president Mikhail Saaakashvili has vowed to bring both regions back into the fold.
Tensions between Georgia and Russia have escalated over the years as Moscow increased economic, commercial and political ties with the two breakaway regions. Over the past few months, tensions increased significantly as Tbilisi and Moscow took a series of military measures in the region: Moscow sent warplanes over the two regions and increased its military buildup in the area. Tbilisi responded in kind and sent unmanned reconnaissance planes over the breakaway regions.
"The sides of the conflict have been playing a kind of cat and mouse game for a couple of years now and they've always kind of pushed each other to the brink but then pulled back," said Sabine Freizer with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. "Unfortunately, that's not what happened [in the past 24 hours] and what we've seen is a large scale military offensive throughout South Ossetia."
Freizer called on both sides to address the humanitarian situation in the area.
That view was echoed by world leaders as Russian tanks and troops entered Georgia's breakaway region after Tbilisi launched a military offensive to reclaim South Ossetia.
As president of the European Union, France said it was working towards a ceasefire, reaffirming its commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Members of the United Nations Security Council also met in an effort to head off further bloodshed.
Analysts say the international community must react quickly now to first secure a ceasefire and then seriously address how to resolve the seemingly intractable question of what to do with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.