Russian, Georgia row escalates

MOSCOW—Russia on Tuesday suspended all transport and postal links with Georgia until further notice, in a sharp escalation of the dispute between Moscow and its small southern neighbor.
The sanctions, in retaliation for Georgia's detention last week of four Russian officers accused of spying, were announced Monday despite Tbilisi's decision to free the Russians and allow them to return to Moscow.
The punitive measures, which appear aimed at dealing a painful blow to the economically struggling Caucasus nation, mark the first time Russia has used such pressure against a former Soviet state and reflect intense Kremlin displeasure with Georgia's pro-Western policies.
"As of Oct. 3, all air, rail, road and sea transport to Georgia has been halted under further notice," Timur Khikhmanov, a spokesman for Russia's Transport Ministry, told The Associated Press.
The Communications Ministry also said that postal services to Georgia had been suspended.
Monday's sanctions came in the wake of a government session at which Putin denounced the arrests as "state terrorism involving hostage-taking" and ordered his top Cabinet members to draw up retaliatory measures.
Russia's long-chilly relations with Georgia have steadily deteriorated since President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power following Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution, vowing to take the country out of Russia's orbit, bring breakaway provinces back into fold and join NATO in 2008.
Saakashvili's course has angered Moscow, which has warily watched the U.S. expansion into what it considered its home turf. Georgia still hosts unwanted Russia troops on its soil, and is facing two Russian-backed separatist movements.
It was not immediately clear how long Russia would maintain the blockade on Georgia.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday, while welcoming the released Russian officers at a Moscow airport, that their flight could be "the last flight from Georgia this year," the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
In an even more crippling blow, Russian lawmakers scheduled debates this week on a new bill that could bar Georgians living in Russia from cabling money home. About 300,000 Georgians are living in Russia, according to Russian officials, but some estimates put their number at about 1 million of Georgia's 4.4 million population.—Online