Russia wants arms embargo on Georgia, U.S. sees ploy

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia's U.N. envoy asked the Security Council on Tuesday to impose an arms embargo on Georgia, which Russia invaded last month to stop Tbilisi from retaking a Kremlin-backed separatist enclave.

Washington quickly dismissed the Russian draft resolution as a ploy to divert attention from the fact Moscow had yet to pull out of Georgian territory outside two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as promised in a French-brokered cease-fire agreement signed last month.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin submitted the draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council. The text calls for countries to implement measures that would ban the sale of all "arms or military equipment" to Georgia, as well as any military "assistance, consultations or training."

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the council, Churkin acknowledged that that the United States, which helped modernize Georgia's military and backs Tbilisi's aspirations to join the NATO military alliance, might put up strong resistance to the resolution.

"But we believe that it was absolutely necessary to make this political statement by introducing this draft," he said.

Carolyn Vadino, a spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said the resolution was "just an attempt by Russia to divert attention from its real obligation" -- to withdraw from parts of the country outside the rebel areas.

Moscow's intervention in Georgia last month, in which its forces crushed an attempt by Tbilisi to re-establish control over South Ossetia, drew international condemnation and prompted concern over the security of energy supplies.

Russia agreed on Monday to withdraw its soldiers from areas outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has recognized as independent states, within a month.