Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, comments on Georgia at the Security Council stakeout
(excerpt)
Reporter: On Georgia, do you see Russia’s decision as sort of a logical consequence of the way that Kosovo took place? Do you see any linkage? And also the Ambassador of Georgia just, in his press conference, said that if things continue to go this way the planned Sochi Olympics either shouldn’t take place or maybe should be boycotted. Does the US see any connection between those Olympics and these decisions?
Ambassador Khalilzad: We don’t see a connection from our point of view between Kosovo and Georgia/Abkhazia. Kosovo was a unique situation, a situation that had come about as a result of Milosevic’s activities, war, UN mandate, UN supervision of the area with a clear requirement that the ultimate status has to be resolved with a lot of effort, including by the United Nations to resolve it with the Ahtisaari Plan being the final manifestation of the UN diplomatic effort in terms of a proposal for an ultimate outcome.
The situation in Abkhazia is very different from that. And the Russians have not—at least to the best of my knowledge—drawn a conclusion that this is because of Kosovo. We have concerns and those concerns I have expressed.
Reporter: Just one follow up on Georgia… The follow up was the last line of your statement said that Georgia’s not alone. Is that an implicit statement that the United States will support Georgia?
Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, we support Georgia. There should be no ambiguity about that. And we see Georgia’s future in terms of its integration and Western institution in the Atlantic community of states. But that does not mean that we do not recognize legitimate Russian interest. Russia is a significant power in that region of the world and has interests there and we recognize that. But we also recognize that Georgia’s territorial integrity needs to be respected and that the United States and many other countries stand behind that. |
