Russia angry at US ship, Cheney sees 'threat' from Moscow

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Yahoo UK/Ireland

POTI, Georgia (AFP) - Russia criticised the United States on Friday for sending a navy flagship to a key Georgian port, while US Vice President Dick Cheney raised the spectre of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Washington says the USS Mount Whitney, which dropped anchor off the Black Sea port of Poti, is there to deliver vital aid to Georgian refugees but a senior Russian official suggested it might be serving military purposes.

"Naval ships of that class can hardly deliver a large amount of aid," foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists, underlining instead the ship's sophisticated surveillance technology.

Since last month's war with Georgia, Russian forces have been deployed at checkpoints near Poti, a strategically important port on the Black Sea that was bombed by Russian jets, and they are still patrolling there from time to time.

Russia sent hundreds of tanks and troops into Georgian territory on August 8 in what it says was a response to a Georgian offensive to regain control of South Ossetia from Moscow-backed separatists.

Moscow withdrew the bulk of its forces from Georgia under a French-brokered ceasefire agreement, but it has kept thousands of troops deployed in Georgia saying it needs security guarantees before it pulls out completely.

Russia last week recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region, as independent states, drawing fierce condemnation from Georgia and many Western countries.

As Russia sought to win support for its intervention at a summit of ex-Soviet states in Moscow, Cheney wrapped up a tour aimed at bolstering key US allies in the region.

In Kiev, he reaffirmed US support for Ukraine's NATO ambitions and, in a thinly-veiled reference to Russia, said the former member of the Soviet Union should never fear invasion.

Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080905/twl-georgia-russia-conflict-d9fddae.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. I thought the Mt. Whitney was an odd choice for that task. nt

[gps333]

2. It's not Mt. Whitney...

... it's the 2-3 attack subs accompanying her.

[defendandprotect]

3. Why bother with Iran when you can start a new Cold War?