Russia continue occupation of Georgia port

Reuters:

Russia said on Saturday it would continue to patrol Georgia's main Black Sea port, defying Western demands for a complete pullback to positions held before this month's outbreak of fighting over a Georgian rebel region.

Russia said it had honored a ceasefire deal by pulling back most of its forces, but soldiers and weapons remained deep inside Georgia to carry out what the Kremlin has called a peacekeeping operation.

And on the main road leading to the port town of Poti, around 20 Russian soldiers were manning a checkpoint, although not checking traffic.

In Moscow, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, said Russian troops would patrol Poti, even though it lies just outside the security zone Russia says is covered by its peacekeeping mandate.

He told reporters those patrols were in line with a ceasefire deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"Should we sit behind the fence? What use would we be then? They (Georgian forces) will drive around in Hummers, move munitions around in trucks, and are we supposed to just count them?" he said after a news briefing.

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The Russians are supposed to get out of Georgia. This blatant violation of the cease fire is a demonstration of the bad faith they have shown ever since they used a pretext to invade. Russia is a country whose word is not good at this point. Until they quit their occupation of Georgia it makes no sense for anyone to do business as usual with the Russians.