Rice Slams Russia, Says Georgia Actions 'Premeditated'

She slammed Moscow for "intimidation of its sovereign neighbors, its use of oil and gas as a political weapon, its unilateral suspension of the CFE Treaty [the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe], its threat to target peaceful nations with nuclear weapons, its arms sales to states and groups that threaten international security and its persecution and worse, of Russian journalists and dissidents, and others."

Rice used her speech to level a stinging accusation, that Russia had planned its August invasion of Georgia for several months.

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Though she faulted Georgia for taking the bait, she said that "Russia's leaders used this as a pretext to launch what, by all appearances, was a premeditated invasion of its independent neighbor. Indeed, Russia's leaders had laid the groundwork for this scenario months ago."

Last month Georgia responded with force to attacks from separatist militias in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Several Russian peacekeepers, in place for more than a decade, were killed in the fighting. Almost immediately Russian tanks and troops marched into the region and pushed on into undisputed Georgian territory.

The Russian move drew quick condemnation from the United States and its allies in Europe. Today Rice said Russia's actions in Georgia "crystallized the course that Russia's leaders are taking."

Russia's attacks on Georgia were interpreted by experts as an attempt to head off the possibility of Georgia joining NATO, a military alliance that pointed its guns at Moscow during the Cold War but since the Berlin Wall fell insists its mission is focused elsewhere.

Georgia and Ukraine were to be considered for membership at a NATO meeting in December. The United States has publicly supported membership for those countries.

Today Rice offered Ukraine a public lifeline amid concerns that it might be targeted next by Moscow.

"We will resist any Russian attempt to consign sovereign nations and free peoples to some archaic 'sphere of influence,'" Rice said. "We will not allow Russia to wield a veto power over the future of our Euro-Atlantic community -- neither what states we offer membership, nor the choice of those states toad accept it. We have made this particularly clear to our friends in Ukraine."