US URGES EASING OF RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN TENSIONS
Mr. Saakashvili's visit comes amid rising tensions between the Tbilisi government and Moscow over the two Georgian regions, which have had de facto autonomy since separatist conflicts in the early 1990s, and have close ties to Russia. Earlier this week, Russia hinted of possible military action in response to a Georgian threat to open fire on vessels illegally entering Black Sea waters off Abkhazia, while a Russian lawmaker said Georgian forces while visiting South Ossetia had fired him on.
The United States has strongly supported Mr. Saakashvili's administration and Georgia's territorial integrity, and Secretary of State Colin Powell engaged in telephone diplomacy with Georgia and Russia to help defuse an upsurge of tensions a month ago.
At a news briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States is again urging the sides to avoid an escalation.
"The situation, particularly in South Ossetia, has been one that we've been following closely," he said. "The OSCE's been involved there. The Georgians and the Russians have had meetings and discussions about it. And we have certainly encouraged them all to try to work this out, reach arrangements that avoid raising tensions and avoid potential clashes."
President Saakashvili began his U.S. visit with a meeting Wednesday with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He is to meet Thursday with Secretary Powell and officials of the White House National Security Council. The Georgian leader, who studied and practiced law in the United States in the 1990s, will attend the annual convention of the American Bar Association in Atlanta and will receive an award Saturday for promoting the rule of law in his country.
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