Russia says NATO sided with Georgia

MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused NATO of siding with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvilli as Russia pulls its troops out of South Ossetia.

"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has in fact taken Saakashvilli under its protection," Lavrov was reported as saying Tuesday by RIA Novosti. He said NATO is feeding anti-Russian sentiments of Georgia, which wants closer ties to the West, and warned of fallout over a NATO's decision to freeze contacts with Moscow until a troop pullout is completed.

Lavrov cautioned NATO foreign ministers not the lecture Russia because of its decision to oust Georgian ground forces from the breakaway region. Despite reports that Russian troops remain in South Ossetia, Lavron said Russia would fully honor its six-point peace plan.

Russia Tuesday said its mine sweepers would not participate in the NATO-led Open Spirit international naval exercise in the Baltic Sea and that it would bar a U.S. Navy frigate from visiting a Kamchatka Peninsula port next month.