US navy arrives in Georgia, Russian troops stay put

BATUMI – A US navy warship delivered humanitarian aid yesterday for victims of Georgia’s brief war with Russia as Moscow ignored Western demands to pull its remaining troops from the tiny Caucasus country’s heartland.

Russia says the residual troops are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and to protect Georgia’s separatist, pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Moscow withdrew the bulk of its forces from core Georgia on Friday.On Georgia’s main east-west rail line, a fuel train exploded yesterday near the central town of Gori after apparently hitting a landmine, sending a huge plume of black smoke into the sky.The Russia-Georgia conflict erupted on August 7 – 8 when Tbilisi tried to retake South Ossetia.A Russian counter-offensive pushed into Georgia proper, crossing its main east-west high way and nearing a Western-backed oil pipeline from Azerbaijan.Russian troops also moved into Western Georgia from Abkhazia, another breakaway region on the Black Sea.Hundreds of people were killed, tens of thousands displaced and housing and infrastructure wrecked in the fighting.In Batumi, 80 kilometres south of another port, Poti, where Russian troops are still present, a giant crane unloaded 55 tons of aid from the USS McFaul for refugees.Underscoring US support for Georgia, two other US ships are due to follow the guided missile destroyer to the port.The United States has already delivered some aid by military cargo plane but is now shipping in beds and food.”The United States is our great friend.They have arrived at such a difficult time.It means we are not alone,” Georgian Defence Minister David Kezerashvili told reporters in Batumi.Russia’s Black Sea fleet flagship vessel, the Moskva, is no longer in the same area, having returned to its base in Ukraine on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported.Nampa-ReutersMoscow withdrew the bulk of its forces from core Georgia on Friday.On Georgia’s main east-west rail line, a fuel train exploded yesterday near the central town of Gori after apparently hitting a landmine, sending a huge plume of black smoke into the sky.The Russia-Georgia conflict erupted on August 7 – 8 when Tbilisi tried to retake South Ossetia.A Russian counter-offensive pushed into Georgia proper, crossing its main east-west high way and nearing a Western-backed oil pipeline from Azerbaijan.Russian troops also moved into Western Georgia from Abkhazia, another breakaway region on the Black Sea.Hundreds of people were killed, tens of thousands displaced and housing and infrastructure wrecked in the fighting.In Batumi, 80 kilometres south of another port, Poti, where Russian troops are still present, a giant crane unloaded 55 tons of aid from the USS McFaul for refugees.Underscoring US support for Georgia, two other US ships are due to follow the guided missile destroyer to the port.The United States has already delivered some aid by military cargo plane but is now shipping in beds and food.”The United States is our great friend.They have arrived at such a difficult time.It means we are not alone,” Georgian Defence Minister David Kezerashvili told reporters in Batumi.Russia’s Black Sea fleet flagship vessel, the Moskva, is no longer in the same area, having returned to its base in Ukraine on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported.Nampa-Reuters

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