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Brown urges permanent ceasefire | Brown urges permanent ceasefire |
(21 minutes later) | |
Gordon Brown has called for a lasting ceasefire in Georgia and immediate talks aimed at finding a permanent solution to its dispute with Russia. | Gordon Brown has called for a lasting ceasefire in Georgia and immediate talks aimed at finding a permanent solution to its dispute with Russia. |
"We can not continue with a situation where hostilities are likely. We must bring them to an end," the PM said. | "We can not continue with a situation where hostilities are likely. We must bring them to an end," the PM said. |
Mr Brown said he had told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "very directly" that "Russian aggression" has been condemned throughout the world. | Mr Brown said he had told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "very directly" that "Russian aggression" has been condemned throughout the world. |
He also said the UK would help provide humanitarian aid to the region. | He also said the UK would help provide humanitarian aid to the region. |
President Medvedev has ordered an end to military operations against Georgia in South Ossetia, the Kremlin says. | |
'Lasting solution' | |
He told officials that the safety of Russian citizens and peacekeepers in the region had been restored. | |
Russia also backed an EU plan to end the five-day-old conflict. Envoys will now try to get Georgian approval. | |
Each side continues to accuse the other of breaking ceasefire accords, and analysts warn that the two remain far apart on a number of issues. | |
Mr Brown has said there was "no justification" for Russia's actions in Georgia - and he criticised its apparent slowness to react to an offer of a ceasefire. | |
He told BBC News: "It is absolutely clear to us that while Georgia offered a ceasefire, it has taken time for Russia to respond. | |
"Now that they have responded, this must not be a temporary ceasefire, it must be a lasting ceasefire. | |
"And it must now lead immediately, as President Sarkozy has proposed in Moscow today, to talks that will lead to a lasting solution to what has been a problem for many years." | |
He said humanitarian aid should be allowed in to the area "as quickly as possible" to help people displaced by the conflict - something he said both President Medvedev and the Georgian premier had agreed to. |