C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 001385
SIPDIS SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND TASKFORCE-1
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, RU, GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: SITREP 12: WAITING FOR A RUSSIAN PULLOUT
REF: TBILISI 1380
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)

1. (SBU) Summary. As of mid-day August 18,
there is no evidence that Russian troops have begun to withdraw 
from Georgia. The road from Tbilisi to Gori remains closed and travelers
are subject to Russian roadblocks. Next international visitor to 
Tbilisi will be UK Foreign Secretary Miliband on August 19. Turkish 
planes are assisting the Georgians in fighting forest fires in Borjomi 
National Park. Leaders of two Georgian opposition parties issued a 
letter asking NATO to accelerate Georgia's integration into NATO. This 
sitrep covers events since the evening of August 17 (reftel). End 
Summary.

2. (C) As of 1400 Tbilisi time August 18, the Embassy has no 
independent information about any change in the positions of Russian 
troops occupying Georgian territory, despite promises by Russia's 
president to pull the troops back. Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria 
told the Ambassador that the Russians have not begun to withdraw. He 
said that Russian troops have in fact moved into Sachkhere, west of 
South Ossetia. Georgian troops near Russian positions at Akhalgori, a 
village on the cease-fire line have again been ordered not to engage 
with the Russians. The deputy chief of staff of the Russian armed 
forces, Anatoly Nogovitsin, is reported to have said in Moscow on August
17 that preparations for withdrawal were underway. Major General 
Borisov, commanding troops in Gori, is reported to have said that at 
least some Russian troops were moving from Tskhinvali in South Ossetia 
to Russia, but he added that because there are a large number of troops 
in the area, withdrawal could take some time. President Saakashvili 
addressed the nation on television and said that once Russia withdraws, 
Georgia is ready for talks with the Russian leadership. The Bulgarian 
government has reportedly offered Sofia as a location for such talks.

3. (C) Stephen Young, a military observer with the OSCE told the Embassy 
that he was unable to meet with General Kulakhmetov, head of the Russian
PKF in South Ossetia as earlier planned. Young was allowed to visit 
Gori on August 18 along with a convoy of humanitarian aid from World 
Food Program and the Red Cross. He saw no signs of a Russian withdrawal,
and said that in fact the Russians have erected another checkpoint on 
the Tbilisi side of Gori, close to Igoeti. He said that the Russians 
were refusing to allow journalists not accredited in Russia from 
visiting Gori.

4. (SBU) U.S. Senator Joseph Biden met with PM Gurgenidze
and President Saakashvili on August 17. Gurgenidze outlined Georgia's 
looming balance of payment problems and asked for USG leadership to 
secure U.S., European and international financial institution assistance
to support Georgia's macro-economic stability and reconstruction. 
Gurgenidze told Biden that Georgia had spent 14 percent of its foreign 
exchange reserves to provide liquidity to the banking system and support
the lari. He said that even if no further shocks occur, reserves will 
decline another 3-4 percent in the next week or so. He expects no 
additional new foreign investment this year needed to offset Georgia's 
20 percent of GDP current account deficit.

5. (C) German Chancellor 
Angela Merkel met with President Saakashvili on August 17. Merkel 
supported Georgia's sovereignty and said that its territorial integrity 
must be upheld. Germany supports the French-Russian six-point agreement,
she said, and insisted that Russian troops must leave in accordance 
with that agreement. She said that international peacekeepers should 
arrive as soon as possible and that corridors for humanitarian 
assistance to South Ossetia should be opened. President Saakashvili told
Senator Biden that Merkel had said that MAP could be possible in 
December, although publicly she said that Germany's position on 
Georgia's NATO membership has not changed since the Bucharest summit and
that Georgia will be expected to fulfill all its IPAP obligations. 
During the two leaders' press conference, Saakashvili strongly blamed 
South Ossetia and Russia for escalating attacks that precipitated the 
Georgian attack on Tskhinvali. The Georgian government released a 
detailed timeline of the events before and after August 8 that catalogue
the increased intensity of South Ossetian shelling of Georgian villages
and the insertion of Russian troops prior to the GOG's taking action. 

6. (U) David Cameron, leader of Britain's Conservative Party, was in 
Tbilisi on August 16. He expressed the support of the British people and
the British government for Georgia's independence and territorial 
integrity. UK Foreign Minister

TBILISI 00001385 002 OF 002

Miliband will
visit Tbilisi August 19; earlier press reports that UK Prime Minister 
Brown would visit Tbilisi were not correct.

7. (U) South Ossetia's de 
facto president, Eduard Kokoity, dismissed his "government" on August 
17, saying that his ministers had failed to perform their functions 
effectively. Boris Chochiev, formerly South Ossetia's negotiator with 
the Georgians, has been appointed acting de facto prime minister. 
Kokoity imposed a state of emergency and a 9 pm to 6 am curfew on 
Tskhinvali.

8. (U) Forest fires, reportedly started by Russian 
incendiary devices, continued to burn in Borjomi National Park. Georgian
press reports claim that fires have affected 230,000 hectares forest. 
Turkish firefighting airplanes that were turned back from the area by 
Russian forces on August 16 were allowed in on August 17 and have helped
to fight the fires.

9. (U) Opposition leaders David Gamkrelidze (New 
Rights Party) and David Usupashvili (Republican Party) issued an address
to NATO Heads of State and Government requesting accelerated 
integration into NATO for Georgia to support the Georgian people's 
Euro-Atlantic choice. In the address, they argue that this is needed to 
ensure Georgia's sovereignty, democratic development and Euro-Atlantic 
values.

TEFFT