NATO resists U.S. pressure on Russia penalties

updated 6:39 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO pulled its punches against Russia on Tuesday, suspending formal contacts as punishment for the Georgia invasion but bucking U.S. pressure for more severe penalties.

The Russian ambassador to NATO played down the impact of the emergency meeting of the Western alliance.

"The mountain gave birth to a mouse," said Dmitry Rogozin.

The allies say they will not convene any more meetings of the NATO-Russia Council until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia. But they bowed to concerns from Europe — which depends heavily on Russia for energy — and stopped short of adopting specific long-term steps to punish Moscow.

U.N. hashes out resolution
Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council held emergency consultations Tuesday on the conflict between Russia and Georgia after France requested discussion of a new draft plan to end the hostilities.

France had been circulating a six-point draft proposal requiring that fighting cease immediately and Russian and Georgian troops return to positions held before the fighting. Georgia's sovereignty would be respected, and cooperation be given to peacekeepers and relief workers.

The latest, shorter draft demands as its first point full and immediate compliance with a cease-fire between Russia and Georgia.

The European Union-brokered cease-fire requires both Georgia and Russia to return to positions held before the fighting began.

The latest Security Council draft demands as its second point specifically that "immediate withdrawal of Russian forces to the lines held prior to the outbreak of hostilities, and the return of Georgian forces to their usual bases."

A diplomat familiar with the consultations said there was not expected to be an imminent vote on the new draft because consultations on the revised language were just beginning. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were ongoing.

"It's a good draft ... concise and to the point," U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said as he walked into the discussions.

NATO commission
In a small victory for the United States, NATO foreign ministers did agree to create a commission to oversee Georgia’s bid to join the alliance and begin providing military training to its army.

"There can be no business as usual with Russia under present circumstances," alliance Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after the meeting of NATO foreign ministers here.

"We are not abandoning the NATO-Russia Council, but as long as Russian forces are occupying large parts of Georgia, I cannot see the NATO-Russia Council meeting," he told reporters.

Russia, which has accused the United States of wanting to dismantle the council, asked for a meeting last week but has been rebuffed thus far.

De Hoop Scheffer said "the future will depend on concrete actions from the Russian side," but he was forced to add that "no specific decisions on programs or projects (with Russia) have been taken."

However, there was no consensus for more robust expressions of backing for Georgia or displeasure with Moscow.

"There are different sensibilities on this; there are states who want this process to move faster," Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said. "The alliance has to take united, firm position, but without being aggressive."

As limited as the NATO action was, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the alliance of "trying to make a victim of the aggressor, to absolve of guilt a criminal regime, to save a collapsed regime and is taking a course to rearm the current leaders of Georgia."

The White House, meanwhile, pressed Russia to remove its troops from Georgia more quickly.

"It didn't take them really three or four days to get into Georgia, and it really shouldn't take them three or four days to get out," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President Bush is spending time at his ranch.

"It needs to happen faster; that's what they've agreed to," he said.

Europeans wary of isloating Moscow
In Georgia, Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a Black Sea port, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and also took American Humvees that were awaiting shipment back to the United States. A small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left the strategic city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops.

Ahead of the NATO meeting in Brussels, U.S. officials had said they were looking for tangible ways to demonstrate support for Georgia and make Russia pay for what Washington calls a "brutal invasion" of a smaller neighbor and an attempt to subvert a democratically elected government.

Yet, they were forced to scale back their plans once they realized that some European allies — particularly those who depend on Russia for energy — were wary of isolating Moscow.

"The United States sought precisely what we got in this statement," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

She was heading later Tuesday to Poland where she was to sign a missile defense treaty with the Poles over vehement objections from Russia.

She maintained the alliance had rallied firmly behind Georgia by agreeing to stick to a December timeline to reconsider the country's NATO membership and by deciding to send specific technical assistance to assess damage and help reconstruct critical infrastructure like power networks, airports and hospitals.

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