Bush: ‘There’s no room for debate on this matterSSRq

The president is expected to continue his telephone diplomacy while on vacation.

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — President Bush warned Russia on Saturday against trying to pry loose two separatist regions in Georgia and said Moscow must end military operations in the West-leaning democracy that once was part of the Soviet empire.

Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s signing of a cease-fire plan with Georgia was “a hopeful step.” But Russia’s vision of Georgia without the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was a nonstarter, the president said.

“These regions are a part of Georgia and the international community has repeatedly made clear that they will remain so,” said Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side. “There’s no room for debate on this matter.”

Russia’s attack has caused serious strains in relations with the West and heightened fears in the young democracies of Eastern Europe.

Bush discussed the situation for nearly an hour with Rice, who arrived at the ranch around 5:30 a.m. local time from a quick trip to Georgia. They were joined via secured videoconference from Washington by other members of Bush’s national security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and national security adviser Stephen Hadley.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said this past week that Georgia could “forget about” getting back South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which sympathize with Moscow. Medvedev recently met at the Kremlin with leaders from those regions, raising the prospect Russia could absorb them.

Bush countered that Georgia’s borders need to be respected. He said the U.N. Security Council had passed numerous resolutions based on the premise that South Ossetia and Abkhazia remain within Georgia and that international negotiations seek to resolve conflicts in those areas. “Russia itself has endorsed these resolutions,” Bush said.

Bush, who discussed Georgia in calls Saturday to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Latvia President Valdis Zatlers, is expected to continue his telephone diplomacy while on vacation.

At the request of Georgian President Mikhail Saakshvili, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., scheduled a trip to Georgia this weekend for meetings with government officials as well as citizens forced to flee their homes.

Rice says the time had come to talk about the consequences Russia should suffer as a result of its actions in Georgia, yet she declined to possible repercussions it could face.

At the end, perhaps the only thing Russia will have proved is that “they can use their overwhelming regional military power to beat up on a small neighbor,” she said.