...

Nato holds Georgia crisis summit

Other News Materials 19 August 2008 13:32 (UTC +04:00)

Nato foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels for an emergency summit to discuss how the alliance should respond to Russia's military action in Georgia, BBC reported.

On the eve of the meeting, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the West must deprive Russia of any strategic victory from its assault on Georgia.

Tbilisi says Russia is not pulling out of Georgia - a charge Moscow denies.

In a gesture of goodwill, Russian and Georgian troops have exchanged prisoners at a checkpoint near Tbilisi.

The exchange of 15 Georgian soldiers for five Russian soldiers took place at a Russian checkpoint in Igoeti, about 30km (18 miles) away from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.

The BBC's Helen Fawkes, at the scene, saw two injured Russians, brought to the checkpoint by ambulance, carried on stretchers by Russian soldiers towards two Russian helicopters.

The exchange took place with what looked like Georgian officials in the presence of the International Red Cross, our correspondent adds.

The conflict broke out on 7 August when Georgia launched an assault to wrest back control of the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia, triggering a counter-offensive by Russian troops who advanced beyond South Ossetia into Georgia's heartland.

Latest

Latest