.bmp)
.bmp)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.Putin told CNN it was done to benefit a presidential candidate-Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush. Putin said Russia had no choice but to invade Georgia after some of its peacekeepers in South Ossetia were killed. He told Chance it was to avert a human calamity.The former Russian president, still considered the most powerful man in the country, said he was disappointed the U.S. had not done more to stop Georgia's attack.He also announced economic measures which he said were unrelated to the fighting with Georgia. Nineteen U.S. poultry meat companies would be banned from exporting their products to Russia because they had failed health and safety tests, and 29 other companies had been warned to improve their standards or face the same ban, Putin said.His comments come as tensions between the West and Russia reach fresh highs.Russia is trying to counterbalance mounting pressure from the West over its military action in Georgia and its recognition of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.Its hopes of winning international support for its actions in Georgia were dashed Thursday, when China and other Asian nations expressed concern about mounting tensions in the region.The joint declaration from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, which includes China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, said the countries hoped any further conflict could be resolved peacefully through dialogue.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
