Russia Shrugs Off NATO Scolding, Takes Prisoners and Humvees

Aug. 19, 2008— -- A Western draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Georgia calls on Russia to withdraw immediately to pre-conflict lines, according to a text obtained by Reuters today. The draft also calls for the return of Georgian forces to their usual bases, demands full and immediate compliance with the ceasefire and a reference to "the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders."

Led by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, NATO delivered a tough message to Moscow, warning that the Western alliance cannot "continue to do business as usual" with Russia as long as its troops are in the neighboring country of Georgia.

Russia shrugged off the diplomatic scolding and called the Georgian government a "criminal, failed regime."

"NATO is trying to make a victim of an aggressor and whitewash a criminal regime, save a collapsing regime and is taking a path to the rearmament of the current leaders in Georgia," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters today.

Lavrov said Russia could pull its troops out of Georgia by this weekend, depending whether Georgian troops returned to their bases.

In an even more blunt response, Russia sent tanks and trucks today into Georgia's port city of Poti, which is key to Georgia's oil shipments. The Russians sealed the port and then towed Georgia's missile boat Dioskuria out of sight. A loud explosion was heard soon after.

When the Russians pulled out of the port several hours later, about 20 blindfolded and handcuffed Georgian soldiers held at gunpoint were riding atop the Russian vehicles.

They also commandeered four American Humvees that had been left from a joint U.S.-Georgia military exercise and were awaiting shipment back to the states.

U.S. military officials said the vehicles were amphibious Humvees. They said it was unclear whether other U.S. equipment, including a few trucks and life support equipment, had also been appropriated by the Russians.

Officially the Pentagon is saying only that it is looking into the reports of the missing Humvees and has not yet demanded that the Russians give them back.

Russia's Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsin said the Humvees were "captured" along with the 20 Georgian troops who were using them.

The Russians have signed a cease-fire agreement in which both sides are to pull back to positions they held before last week's fighting erupted over Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia. Although the fighting stopped nearly a week ago, Russian tanks and troops continue to man roadblocks in central Georgia and maintain control over the key Georgian city of Gori.

NATO concluded its emergency summit in Brussels today by deciding to freeze regular contacts with Moscow until it withdraws its troops from Georgia.

"We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual," the 26 NATO states said in a joint declaration issued after emergency talks in Brussels.

The foreign ministers also established a NATO-Georgia commission to oversee cooperation between the alliance and Georgia.

Perhaps most significantly, the alliance ruled out NATO membership for Georgia anytime soon. The prospect of admitting Georgia had infuriated Russia. While NATO had already been uneasy about upsetting Russia with Georgian membership, Russia's willingness to fight made a NATO military commitment to Georgia even more difficult to swallow.

Nevertheless, Rice told a news conference that the emergency meeting of NATO foreign ministers sent a message that Russia could not draw new dividing lines in Europe.

"A new line in Europe where Russia somehow asserts that there are those who cannot opt for a trans-Atlantic future is unacceptable," she told a news conference.

She added, "It is time for the Russian president to keep his word to withdraw Russian forces."

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who helped negotiate the cease-fire, was clearly frustrated by Russia' snubbing of the agreement.

"In every country, when you sign a document you must respect that document and respect your signature," said Kouchner.

Although Rice was talking sternly in Brussels, NATO appears impotent in its first significant confrontation with Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

U.S. officials said there was little indication of a Russian withdrawal and acknowledge there is little they can do if Russia decides to stay put in Georgia or South Ossetia.

Rice appeared to try to salvage some prestige in NATO's diplomatic response Monday night by saying, "I think the very fact of the alliance meeting and considering what steps it will take to assist Georgia will send a very clear message."

Georgia, meanwhile, wants help rebuilding its military. Besides the possible sinking of the missile ship today, Russian forces have crushed police cars, wrecked radar installations, airport runways, barracks and other military facilities.

"The Georgian military has been very seriously degraded," an American source told ABC News.

That help is unlikely to come from NATO and, for now, the only U.S. military assistance is coming in the form of humanitarian aid, although it is unclear how much of that is really needed. There are about 150 U.S. military personnel in Georgia, all said to be assisting the humanitarian effort.

Russia did send a small column of tanks and armored vehicles out of the Georgian city of Gori north into South Ossetia, the first indication that at least some Russian troops were pulling out.

In addition, Russian and Georgian officials swapped prisoners of war. The Georgian POWs, including two on stretchers, were brought to the town of Igoeti, about 30 miles outside the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Georgian ambulances later brought two other people to the Russian choppers. One was on a gurney.

Georgian Security Council head Alexander Lomaia said 15 Georgians and five Russians were exchanged. "It went smoothly," he said.

Lomaia said the exchange removed any pretext for Russians to keep holding positions in Igoeti, 30 miles west of Tbilisi, or anywhere else on Georgia's only significant east-west highway.

In Vienna, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe agreed to send 20 additional unarmed military monitors to areas near South Ossetia and, eventually, to deploy up to 80 more. The eight monitors already deployed would return to South Ossetia as soon as the security situation allowed, while the 20 others would be sent to adjacent areas, Harkonen said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report