Putin dimisses EU aid in Georgia dispute

Russia’s simmering dispute with Georgia threatens to overshadow an EU-Russia summit on 20 October, as Vladimir Putin’s government angrily rejected European attempts to ­arbitrate.

In a letter to the Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, Putin skimmed over European offers to mediate in the crisis, which some analysts have warned could ­escalate into armed conflict.

Putin said that Europe should instead focus its diplomatic pressure on changing the direction of the Georgian government’s leadership.

According to diplomats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia would oppose EU intervention in the conflict.

That message is likely to anger many EU foreign ministers, who are expected when they meet in Luxembourg on 16 October to call on Russia to enter talks to de-escalate the crisis.

The spat adds another contentious issue to the agenda of Putin’s meeting with EU leaders, to be held in Lahti, Finland. The ­summit already risks being eclipsed by the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politovskaya.

The latest crisis between Georgia and Russia began on 27 September, with the arrest of four Russians accused of spying in Georgia, including one major from Russia’s main military intelligence directorate. Russia reacted by closing its border with Georgia and expelling hundreds of Georgian citizens.

Leaders in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, which is backed by Moscow and is home to thousands of Russian troops, have threatened to hold a referendum on independence, raising tensions further.

But amid fears that Georgia will soon officially declare Russia an "occupying force", a move observers say would constitute a dramatic escalation in the crisis, many member states are calling for the EU to ­condemn any hint that Georgia’s territorial integ­rity is in question.

The Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, UK and Lithuania have pressed for EU foreign ­ministers to issue a call

for Russia to start talks with Georgia. But during discussions between EU ambassadors on Wednesday (11 October) major differences remained with some member states, notably Greece, strongly opposing the move.

Greece has close ties with Russia and in September signed a declaration with Russia to build a 280 ­kilometre pipeline, worth €1 billion, that would bring 35-50 million tonnes of oil to Greece each year.

But Georgia is also ­pressing the EU to step up its role in the region.

"This is a time when the European Union needs to be very clear in its statements," said Salome Samadashvili, Georgia’s ambassador to the EU, ­calling for the EU to take "concrete actions".

Russia’s simmering dispute with Georgia threatens to overshadow an EU-Russia summit on 20 October, as Vladimir Putin’s government angrily rejected European attempts to ­arbitrate.