| United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice | | | | country will never give up territory, including the |
| has condemned Russian military operations in the | | | | breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, |
| former Soviet republic of Georgia, saying the action | | | | which seek closer ties with Russia. |
| reminds her of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia | | | | "Never Georgia will succumb to their pressures. Never |
| in 1968. She spoke in Georgia where the Georgian | | | | ever we will surrender. Never ever we will give up our |
| President Mikheil Saakashvili declared that his country | | | | freedom and independence. Never ever we will give |
| would never surrender despite Moscow's military might. | | | | any piece of our territory. And freedom will go to |
| Stefan Bos reports for VOA from the Georgian town | | | | every part of Georgia, to every ethnic group to every |
| of Zestaponi, which is feeling the impact of ongoing | | | | community in Georgia and we will definitely get rid of |
| fighting. | | | | this invaders for good. I am totally convinced of that |
| In one of her strongest statements to date, Rice | | | | one," he said. |
| condemned what some have described as Russia's | | | | Yet the tensions have underscored problems to reach |
| first foreign invasion since the Cold War ended. | | | | a lasting fragile cease-fire, including on the road to Gori, |
| Georgia says Russia now controls one-third of the | | | | one of the main flashpoints in recent days. |
| country, three days after Moscow accepted a | | | | In Zestaponi, the last main town near Gori, Georgian |
| European Union-brokered cease-fire. Speaking after | | | | security forces have blocked the road. |
| talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in | | | | The Georgians told VOA News that Russian forces |
| Tblisi, Rice said "Russian forces need to leave Georgia | | | | still control part of the road and accuse the Russians |
| at once." | | | | of attacking positions in and around Gori. The clashes |
| She stressed that Moscow should realize that "this is | | | | have cut people off from their families. They are |
| no longer 1968," when Soviet forces invaded | | | | desperately waiting for the police blockade to be over. |
| Czechoslovakia and ended a period of reforms known | | | | Foreigners are also caught in the cross fire, including |
| as the Prague Spring. | | | | Erich F. Heckmann, a German who says he wants to |
| Rice said she no longer trusts Russian peacekeepers | | | | return home from a rare reunion with his Georgian |
| who have been present in Georgia's breakaway | | | | wife's family. "We came from the Black Sea to reach |
| regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. | | | | our airplane in Armenia. So we are now (in trouble). I |
| "In order to stabilize the situation in Georgia, we need | | | | have to do my job at home. My wife has to do her |
| international observers on the scene fast. And | | | | job at home. That's why I called the German embassy. |
| eventually we need a more robust and impartial | | | | But he refused (to help me). All (traffic) is stopped. And |
| international peacekeeping force that would follow | | | | I said: "I don't want to die here, and stay. I can't," he said. |
| those monitors. I count on Russian cooperation in | | | | Russian and South Ossetia officials say some |
| getting those monitors in," she said. | | | | two-thousand people have died in the conflict, but that |
| Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made | | | | figure has been difficult to verify independently. The |
| clear however that the world in his words "can forget | | | | United Nations refugee agency says about 100,000 |
| about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity." | | | | people have fled the fighting. |
| Georgian President Saakashvili responded that his | | | | |