Ted Poe: “Mr. Speaker, I believe that there was a time when we could honestly hope that Russia was playing a fair and supportive…”

“Mr. Speaker, I believe that there was a time when we could honestly hope that Russia was playing a fair and supportive role with regard to the resolution of the separatist conflicts in the Republic of Georgia. Unfortunately, our optimism in that regard is almost exhausted. It now appears obvious that Russia seeks to play a destabilizing role in Georgia, with the goal of undermining Georgia's political and economic development and, ultimately, its own sovereignty. Over several years Russia has reportedly supported the separatist forces with arms and trained personnel. It has applied boycotts on Georgian goods and shut off energy supplies to Georgia. It has broadly granted Russian citizenship and issued Russian passports to people living in Georgia's separatist regions. It has provided economic subsidies to the separatist regions and granted residents of those regions the right to vote in Russian elections. Its so-called 'peacekeeping' forces in the separatist regions appeared to have played a biased role in favor, of course, of the separatist regime. More recently, on April 16, the Kremlin issued a decree further expanding its 'official' ties with the separatist regions. Most objective observers would affirm that the Georgian Government has tried to be fair and open-minded in its efforts to negotiate a settlement in the separatist conflicts.”