S E C R E T LONDON 002112 NOFORN SIPDIS FOR EUR/WE, EUR/CACEN, EUR/RUS,
GEORGIA TASK FORCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2018 TAGS: MOPS, PREL, PHUM,
OSCE, UNAUS, GG, RS, UK SUBJECT: TFGG01: HMG AGREES ON NEED TO PRESSURE
RUSSIA TO WITHDRAW FROM GEORGIA REF: STATE 87254 Classified By: 
Political Minister-Counselor Greg Berry for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 

Situation in Gori
------------------ 

1. (S/NF) FCO Georgia Task Force 
Director (and Head of International Organizations Department) Nick 
Hopton expressed appreciation for points reftel and noted HMG 
concurrence with U.S. view that Russia needs to comply with its 
agreement to remove its forces from Georgia, and to allow OSCE and other
observers in to report on the humanitarian situation. Hopton told us 
that UK Embassy Tbilisi and the UK seconded monitor to the OSCE Mission 
both confirmed press reports that Russian troops were withdrawing from 
the center of Gori. He cautioned, however that while the trend was 
definitely a reduction in troop levels, Russian patrols were still 
entering the city occasionally. Hopton also noted that Georgian police 
were returning to their stations in Gori, and that thus far there had 
been no violent encounters between the police and Russian troops. 

Humanitarian Aid
---------------- 

2. (C) Task Force members told us that
a humanitarian needs assessment team (comprised of FCO and Department 
for International Development (DfID) personnel) will hit the ground on 
Saturday to decide specific needs. Meanwhile, HMG is allocating UK 
Pounds 500K to ICRC (about 1M USD) and is contributing 1/6th of the 1m 
Euros the EC is pushing forward.

Consular Situation
------------------ 

3. (C) According to the Task Force, the flow of UK nationals from 
Tbilisi to Yerevan has stopped, and in fact some of the evacuees have 
opted to return to Georgia. The UK is therefor calling back to London 
consular personnel sent to Yerevan earlier in the week to help with the 
surge. UK consular personnel in Yerevan also report that the Georgian 
government is not allowing males between the ages of 16 and 55 to leave 
the country due to what the Georgians are describing as a "general 
military mobilization." Any who make it past Georgian immigration 
officials are being allowed to enter Armenia.

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