Nato calls EU-Russia pact 'not acceptable'

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Source: FT

The deal brokered by the European Union for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia has been slammed by Nato's top official as "not acceptable" because it cedes too much ground to Moscow.

As EU foreign ministers prepare today to discuss the accord brokered last week by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato's secretary-general, warned that the agreement provided no grounds for the revival of the Nato-Russia relationship.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr de Hoop Scheffer complained that Russia, which has pledged to withdraw from buffer zones inside Georgia that adjoin South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is being permitted to retain a military presence inside the two breakaway regions.

This was, he said, in direct contravention of an earlier six-point plan from President Sarkozy that called for a return to the status quo before the conflict broke out. "If the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo," he said. "The option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptable."

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b2a02cd6-82bb-11dd-a019-000077b07658.html

[thunder rising]

1. Here is the standard "Hold your breath till you turn blue" response that has worked so well for us

Nato would stand by its decision to suspend regular meetings of ambassadors from Nato and Russia as long as Russian troops remained in the two breakaway regions

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2. Yap-the-stoop is just going clarify how irrelevant NATO is. nt

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3. K&R n/t