Clinton gets earful from Moscow on 'occupation' remarks

[Kshasty]

Moscow dismissed on Wednesday the U.S. state secretary's remarks about Georgia's occupation by Russian troops as "baseless."

Speaking in Tbilisi on Monday on the final stage of her East European and South Caucasus tour, Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States fully supported Georgia and "flatly rejects" Russian claims to have a privileged sphere of influence concerning former Soviet republics.

She said the presence of Russian troops in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was in breach of the ceasefire that ended the five-day Russian-Georgian war in August 2008 and urged Moscow to honor its commitments, "including ending the occupation and withdrawing Russian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia to their pre-conflict positions."

"The use of the term 'occupation' by State Secretary Hillary Clinton in this context has absolutely no basis," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"There is not a single Russian military serviceman in Georgia. Russia does have military contingents but they are stationed on the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which seceded from Georgia as a result of a war unleashed by the Saakashvili regime."

http://www.en.rian.ru/russia/20100707/159724862.html