(10 Aug 2008) SHOTLIST
1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to the United Nations:
"Is the goal of the Russian federation to change the leadership of Georgia?"
2. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations:
"Mr President, I suggest that I've given a complete response; maybe the ambassador wasn't listening when I gave my response, maybe he didn't have his earpiece on. I suggest that I gave a full response to that question."
3. Cutaway Khalilzad and Churkin in Security Council session
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to the United Nations +++speaking at news conference after Security Council session+++
"We believe the situation has gotten a lot worse in the last 24 hours; the escalation has taken place in several dimensions: the intensification of attacks in South Ossetia, the expansion of the conflict to Abkhazia and to the rest of Georgia, there has been an escalation of attacks against infrastructure, there have been attacks against Georgian forces withdrawing from South Ossetia, and there has been no progress to achieve a ceasefire."
5. Wide of Khalilzad at news conference
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations: +++speaking at news conference after Security Council session+++
"Regime change is purely an American invention, purely an American invention; we never apply this terminology in our political thinking and certainly we are all for democracy in Georgia, and it's interesting that our American colleagues chose to bring up publicly this idea of President Saakashvili stepping down - it must mean that they think that there is something in it and they want others to reflect on that. You know sometimes there are democratically elected or semi-democratically elected leaders who do things which create grave problems for their countries. So, sometimes those leaders need to contemplate how useful they have become to their people."
7. Wide shot Churkin at news conference
STORYLINE:
The US Ambassador to the United Nations exchanged sharp words with the Russian ambassador to the UN on Sunday, accusing Moscow of resisting attempts to make peace with Georgia after days of fighting have left hundreds of civilians dead.
US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad pointedly asked Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin in the UN Security Council session on Sunday whether Russia's aim was to "change the leadership in Georgia," a charge Churkin did not directly address but seemed to deny.
Speaking to reporters after Council session, Khalilzad told reporters that the US believed the situation has got "a lot worse in the last 24 hours."
"The escalation has taken place in several dimensions," Khalilzad went on, "the intensification of attacks in South Ossetia, the expansion of the conflict to Abkhazia and to the rest of Georgia, there has been an escalation of attacks against infrastructure, there have been attacks against Georgian forces withdrawing from South Ossetia, and there has been no progress to achieve a ceasefire."
For his part Churkin denied that Russia was "regime change" in Georgia, calling the term "purely an American invention."
Churkin also accused the UN Secretary-General's office of taking Georgia's side.
A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon denied the claim; Ban's office had said late on Saturday night he was "alarmed by the escalation of hostilities in Georgia."
Much of the session, which began on Sunday morning with private talks and a public session, became a tense standoff between Russia and the US.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
