A second emergency session of the UN Security Council on the crisis in the breakaway territory of Georgia South Ossetia is underway, just 12 hours after an initial session.
The meeting was called amid more heavy fighting between Georgian and Russian forces. Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin accused Georgia of targeting Russian peacekeepers, a claim his Georgian counterpart Irakli Alasania rejected, telling the 15-nation council Tbilisi was defending itself against Russian agression. A fresh report says Russian warplanes have bombed the Georgian port of Poti and a military base. Moscow has confirmed that it sent troops into the region following an offensive by Georgian forces. Georgia's pro-Western president Mikhail Saakashvili claims that his forces control most of the disputed territory, including its main city, Tskhinvali. Official sources say 30 Georgians, mostly soldiers, have been killed. Russia says ten of its servicemen have been killed. The French European Union presidency says the EU, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United States are sending a joint delegation to seek a ceasefire.
(Deutsche Welle)
more info >>
<< Back