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BRUSSELS-NATO ministers will pledge support for Georgia and reiterate a promise of future membership on Tuesday while criticizing Russian intervention in the country and urging Moscow to respect a peace deal, a spokeswoman said.Washington called an emergency meeting of the 26 NATO foreign ministers to review ties with Moscow and discuss help to Georgia, a former part of the Soviet Union which won its pledge of eventual alliance membership at an April summit in Bucharest.Months of tension between Georgia and Russia erupted on August 7, when Tbilisi launched an assault to regain control of the Russian-backed breakaway South Ossetia region. Russia launched a massive counter-offensive including into the Georgian heartland.U.S. envoy to NATO Kurt Volker told Reuters on Saturday no specific response had yet been decided, but regular meetings of foreign and defence ministers, and of NATO ambassadors with their Russian counterpart, would be part of the review.Also under scrutiny would be dialogue in counter-terrorism, counter narcotics and missile defence, he said.A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been no evidence yet that Moscow has begun its troop withdrawal from Georgia and that "at a minimum" NATO would be looking at suspending ministerial meetings with Russia."We don't want to be in a situation where we are in some kind of frozen relationship with Russia ... but until Russia pulls its forces out of Georgia and respects international norms of the 21st century, we just can't go on with business as usual."A NATO spokeswoman played down reports of divisions among NATO allies on the response to Russia, saying ministers would deliver "a very clear message of solidarity to Georgia".TO read more go to:
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