Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has criticized the U.S. Senate over a resolution urging Moscow to withdraw troops from Georgia's breakaway regions.
Medvedev, in an interview with Russian and Georgian broadcasters, said the U.S. Senate resolution reflected only the "views of some of its superannuated [prestarely in Russian] members...who, due to nonobjective reasons, have aligned themselves with certain individuals. That's completely up to them. This is a foreign parliament and I do not much care about how they phrase their statements. "
The interview was with Russia's Russia Today television, Ekho Moskvy radio, and Georgia's PIK-TV -- Medvedev's first with Georgian media since the countries' August 2008 war.
The U.S. Senate resolution last week reiterated Washington's call for Russian troops to comply with a cease-fire ending the five-day war and withdraw from Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Russia has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states since the war.
Medvedev said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made the decision to stage a military attempt to retake South Ossetia, sparking the war with Russia, after then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Tbilisi in a show of U.S. support.
As long as Saakashvili remained in power, Medvedev said he ruled out the possibility of renewing diplomatic relations with Georgia, severed since the 2008 war.
compiled from agency reports
Medvedev, in an interview with Russian and Georgian broadcasters, said the U.S. Senate resolution reflected only the "views of some of its superannuated [prestarely in Russian] members...who, due to nonobjective reasons, have aligned themselves with certain individuals. That's completely up to them. This is a foreign parliament and I do not much care about how they phrase their statements. "
The interview was with Russia's Russia Today television, Ekho Moskvy radio, and Georgia's PIK-TV -- Medvedev's first with Georgian media since the countries' August 2008 war.
The U.S. Senate resolution last week reiterated Washington's call for Russian troops to comply with a cease-fire ending the five-day war and withdraw from Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Russia has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states since the war.
Medvedev said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made the decision to stage a military attempt to retake South Ossetia, sparking the war with Russia, after then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Tbilisi in a show of U.S. support.
As long as Saakashvili remained in power, Medvedev said he ruled out the possibility of renewing diplomatic relations with Georgia, severed since the 2008 war.
compiled from agency reports
