WASHINGTON (AFP) — Republican White House hopeful John McCain said Monday Russia appears bent on extinguishing Georgia's independence as he demanded a united Western front to protect the former Soviet republic.
The United States should dispatch "immediate economic and humanitarian assistance to help mitigate the impact the invasion has had on the people of Georgia," McCain said in a statement he read to reporters in Pennsylvania.
"In the face of Russian aggression, the very existence of independent Georgia and the survival of its democratically elected government are at stake," the Arizona senator said.
"Russian President (Dmitry) Medvedev and Prime Minister (Vladimir) Putin must understand the severe, long-term negative consequences that their government's actions will have for Russia's relationship with the US and Europe."
McCain called for an emergency session of NATO's executive council and for the West to press ahead with a UN Security Council resolution despite Russia's certain veto.
NATO should hold talks on deploying an international peacekeeping force to Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, and review its decision against setting Georgia on the path to membership of the military alliance.
"NATO's decision to withhold a Membership Action Plan for Georgia might have been viewed as a green light by Russia for its attacks on Georgia, and I urge the NATO allies to revisit the decision," McCain said.
He also demanded an emergency meeting of G7 foreign ministers, although this had already come about by the time he delivered his statement with the ministers, in telephone talks, urging Russia to accept an immediate ceasefire.
While praising Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and noting that he had met with him several times in Tbilisi, McCain thrice mispronounced the pro-Western leader's name as "Shaskavili."
In perhaps a sly dig at his Democratic rival Barack Obama, who has condemned the violence in Georgia while on holiday in Hawaii, McCain said Americans watching the Olympics or "vacationing" might see the crisis as a distant worry.
But he said Russia was trying to "intimidate" Ukraine and other pro-Western neighbors, and had "attempted to bomb" the strategic Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline that feeds oil from Central Asia to Europe.
"Whatever tensions and hostilities might have existed between Georgians and Ossetians, they in no way justify Moscow's path of violent aggression," the Republican said.
"Russian actions, in clear violation of international law, have no place in 21st century Europe."
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