Western Leaders Pump Up Rhetoric

18 August 2008TBILISI, Georgia — Western diplomatic efforts to resolve a crisis between Russia and Georgia took on a sharper edge over the weekend, as Russian soldiers remained deployed in Georgia despite the signing of a truce. The overwhelming message was that Moscow had to back away from Georgia militarily. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who brokered the truce, warned President Dmitry Medvedev by telephone Sunday that Russia would face "serious consequences" from the European Union if the soldiers and tanks stayed put. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking after a meeting in Tbilisi with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, warned that Russia's credibility was at risk and that Georgia remained a NATO candidate. One day earlier, U.S. President George W. Bush declared that the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and... [read full story]