U.S. warship to Georgian port partly held by Russia
The USS Mount Whitney was the first Navy ship to travel to Poti since Georgia's five-day war with Russia last month. The continued presence of Russian troops here has been a major point of friction between Russia and the West, which insists Russia has failed to honor a deal to pull back to positions held before fighting broke out Aug. 7.
The in-your-face anchorage at Poti came as Vice President Dick Cheney visited nearby Ukraine, another former Soviet republic that feels threatened by Moscow's military aggression.
Cheney pledged in Kiev, the capital, that the United States was committed to Ukraine's security and freedom and said Ukrainians should not be forced to live under Russia's "threat of tyranny, economic blackmail and military invasion."
In a diplomatic counterpunch, Russia received support Friday from six other former Soviet republics who issued a joint statement condemning Georgia for using force to try to retake control of its separatist province of South Ossetia.
The Kremlin has watched the arrival of the USS Mount Whitney and other U.S. warships carrying aid with deep suspicion, but a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Friday no military action was planned in response to the U.S. naval presence in the Black Sea.
During the war, Russian forces bombed Poti, which has a large oil shipment facility, attacked the port and sank eight Georgian naval vessels in the harbor. Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers that Russia calls "peacekeepers" are still camped just 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the port.
Still, traffic flowed freely past two Russian checkpoints Friday.
Ketino Kebuchava, the owner of a small grocery store in Poti, welcomed the warship's arrival.
"We are a small country and we need help," he said. "We welcome anyone but the Russians. We want the Russians out of our city and out of our country."
The Mount Whitney will unload aid at Poti's commercial port Saturday, right next door to Poti's badly damaged naval base.
Signs of destruction were all around. The missile boat Dioskuria — the flagship for Georgia's small navy — stood with its hull under water, its badly damaged communications masts protruding from the water. The windows of Georgia's naval headquarters were shattered, the buildings pockmarked by large caliber ammunition.
Recent comments
interesting..BUSH should have sent submarines to deliver the aid.…
Megan | Sept. 21, 2008 at 1:09 p.m.
Yes, Putin saw an idiot and a chump in BUsh. Why are we extending…
chump | Sept. 5, 2008 at 2:42 p.m.
Clinton would have sent a carried task force like he did when China…
Mititary power :-) | Sept. 5, 2008 at 12:54 p.m.
