Russia, US Swap Warnings as Condoleezza Rice Visits Georgia

Russia claimed that it would be prepared to act militarily in response to regional threats

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tbilisi Wednesday, July 9 as the US and Russia accused each other of stoking unrest in Georgia while US troops began exercises with regional armies near Russia's borders.

Her trip came a day after she signed a deal allowing Washington to base part of a new US missile defense system in the Czech Republic, prompting a stark warning from Moscow that it would respond militarily.

The former Cold War rivals have traded accusations of fanning separatist tensions in Georgia itself, where violence has flared in the past week in Abkhazia, one of two regions that broke from Tbilisi after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Frankly, some of the things that Russia did over the last couple of months added to tensions in the region," Rice was quoted by Georgian media as saying. "Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one. We have said that both Georgia and Russia need to avoid provocative behavior," she added.

Referring to Russia's reaction to the missile shield deal she signed with the Czech Republic on Tuesday, Rice said she was disappointed, "given all the effort both US Defense Secretary (Robert) Gates and I have made to offer to the Russians significant ways for transparency, confidence and for cooperation."

A senior State Department official echoed Rice's comments on Moscow's moves in the separatist Abkhaz region to reporters traveling with the secretary of state to Tbilisi, saying on condition of anonymity that "Russia needs to resume its role as a neutral arbiter of peace rather than a party to the conflict, which Russia is in danger of becoming."

"Russia needs to realize the empire is gone," he added.

Fears of escalation increase

Rice was disappointed by Russia's response

The official warned that Washington feared that "a military cycle of escalation will simply develop a momentum of its own and could lead to a catastrophe in the region," one involving "horrific" new "fighting."

Hours before her arrival, Russia's foreign ministry issued a statement accusing Georgia of pushing the region towards war through actions openly supported by the United States.............................

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