Putin blames US for war

Paola Totaro
August 29, 2008

 

The Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has shocked Europe by using the giant American broadcaster, CNN, to accuse his US counterpart, George Bush, of creating the war in Georgia as a plot to install John McCain as his successor.

In the most outrageous and inflammatory claim since the crisis in South Ossetia erupted earlier this month, Putin accused the US of provoking the conflict to help the Republican candidate - an outspoken critic of the Kremlin in the race for the Presidency.

"It is not just that the American side could not restrain the Georgian leadership from this criminal act. The American side in effect armed and trained the Georgian army," Mr Putin told CNN.

"Why spend years holding difficult negotiations and looking for complicated compromises in ethnic conflicts? It's easier to arm one of the parties and push it to kill the other party, and the job is done.

"The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US President."

While Mr Putin carefully did not name Mr Bush directly, White House officials quickly denounced his accusations broadcast both on CNN and Russian television. His claims had been widely aired in Russia last week too..

Mr Putin's comments have added to rising tensions with the US as the scenario of a Cold War, Act One, rose in Europe after Russia sent warships on "peacekeeping" duties to the Black Sea - in response to the arrival of US and NATO naval ships it insists are using humanitarian aid as a guise.

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