UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000721 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 
12958: N/A TAGS: PREL, PGOV, RU, GG, UNSC SUBJECT: TOUGH DAY FOR RUSSIA 
IN SECURITY COUNCIL 

1. (SBU) Summary. All Security Council Members except
for Russia called during an emergency session for an immediate 
ceasefire in response to the crisis in Georgia. Many Council Members 
said the Russian response to Georgia's August 7 military action in South
Ossetia was a disproportionate response to the Georgian operation in 
South Ossetia and pointed out that a Georgian withdrawal from South 
Ossetia is underway. The U.S. and U.K. challenged Russia to explain the 
motives for its actions. Ambassador Khalilzad asked Russian Ambassador 
Churkin directly if the Russian objective was "regime change" in 
Georgia. The Russian PermRep accused the UN Secretariat of bias in its 
reporting on the situtation, defended Russian military activities as a 
necessary response to Georgia's "militaristic and adventurous" policies,
and without directly answering Khalizad's question, said Georgian 
President Mikhail Sakaashvilli was an obstacle to peace. End Summary. 

2. (SBU) In an emergency public meeting of the UN Security Council on the
crisis in Georgia on August 10, Under Secretary General for Political 
Affairs Lynn Pascoe and Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping 
Operations Mulet briefed on the events on the ground in Georgia. Pascoe 
confirmed Georgia had withdrawn from South Ossetia, Georgian troops were
no longer returning fire, and Georgia had opened a humanitarian 
corridor. He said UNHCR estimated there would be 20,000 Internally 
Displaced Persons (IDPs) needing humanitarian assistance; 5000 refugees 
had also crossed from South Ossetia into North Ossetia in the Russian 
Federation. ASYG Mulet confirmed that several Georgian villages had been
bombed in Abkhazia, that virtually the entire population of the Upper 
Kodori Valley had fled the bombing, and that CIS peacekeepers had taken 
no action to stop the deployments of Abkhazian forces. He also said a 
Russian naval vessel had interdicted a ship in the Black Sea carrying 
humanitarian goods. PermRep Churkin accused USYG Pascoe and ASYG Mulet 
of bias in their reports. The U.K. said the Russians were in no place to
be making such claims. 

3. (SBU) Georgian PermRep Irakli Alasania called
for immediate direct intervention of the Security Council. He said 
Russia's President had refused to engage directly with Georgia's 
President. He said that Georgian forces had withdrawn from South 
Ossetia, but that Russian forces had fired on Georgian forces, impeding 
their withdrawal. He recalled the Russian actions in Chechnya and said 
it was clear that the purpose of the "Russian style peace enforcement" 
was to "erase Georgia from the face of the earth." 

4. (SBU) Ambassador 
Khalilzad called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and return to
the status quo ante of August 6. He challenged the "intransigent 
rejection of Russia to stop the violence", despite Georgia's pullout 
from South Ossetia and Georgia's offer to return to the status quo ante 
of August 6. He cited Russian actions to impede Georgia's withdrawal 
from South Ossetia as "unconscionable", and questioned Russia's motives 
for rejecting a ceasefire and its continuing to carry out attacks 
against civilian centers. Khalilzad condemned the violation of Georgia's
sovereignty and territorial integrity and said he expected a resolution
calling for an immediate ceasefire to be introduced shortly. 

5. (SBU) 
Russian PermRep Vitaly Churkin responded that Russia was acting in self 
defense, prompted by the August 7 Georgian military operation in South 
Ossetia. Churkin accused Georgia of "militaristic and adventurous" 
agression, citing a "30 times increase" in Georgia's military budget and
the presence of 127 U.S. military advisors in Tbilisi as proof. He 
accused Georgia of engaging in "ethnic cleansing" and suggested that 
Georgia was targeting South Ossetians who retained Russian citizenship 
in a genocidal campaign. Churkin defended Russian attacks on targets 
outside the conflict zone in Georgia by comparing it to NATO attacks on 
Belgrade and bridges in Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo conflict. In 
response to civilian casualties, he said the United States had accepted 
civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Serbia. Churkin denied 
that Russia was unwilling to engage in dialogue on the conflict and said
that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov had spoken to Secretary Rice six 
times since the conflict began and Presidents Bush and Medvedev had 
discussed the conflict while in China for the opening of the Olympics. 

6. (SBU) In a dramatic follow-up exchange involving the U.S., Russian 
and Georgian PermReps, Ambassador Khalilzad recounted a telephone call 
that had just occurred between Secretary Rice and Russian Foreign 
Minister Lavrov, in which Lavrov told the Secretary, "Saakashvili must 
go". Khalilzad asked Churkin, "is Russia's objective regime change, the 
overthrow of a democratically elected Georgia?" Churkin responded that 
"regime change" is an American expression, but said, "some

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democratic leaders are an obstacle to peace." 
Khalilzad asked again, "is the goal to change the leadership of 
Georgia?". Churkin replied that he had already given his response. 

7. (SBU) U,K. Deputy Representative Karen Pierce questioned Russia's 
political intentions in Georgia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia, and said 
the Russian response to Georgia's August 6 military operation in South 
Ossetia had gone well beyond a proportionate and rational response. She 
said she doubted Russian claims that its actions were for a humanitarian
purpose, and she asked Russia why it would not withdraw. She also asked
how Russia expected to resolve the conflict if Russian leaders would 
not talk to Georgian President Sakaashvilli. 

8. (SBU) France called for 
the immediate cessation of hostilities, respect for the sovereignty and 
territorial integrity of Georgia and a return to the status quo ante. 
The U.K., Belgium, Italy, and voiced support for the French proposal. 

9. (U) Costa Rica, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Panama all called for a 
ceasefire. Libya called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to the 
status quo ante. Vietnam also called for an immediate ceasefire and 
called for negotiations between Georgia and Russia based on their 
"mutual interests." 

10. (SBU) We are negotiating with France, U.K., 
Italy, Belgium and Croatia on the text of a draft resolution which we 
expect to circulate to the full Council as soon as Monday August 11. 

Khalilzad