Medvedev refuses to play nice; Obama confused

President Dmitry Medvedev pledged support for South Ossetia’s separatist leadership during a surprise visit Monday that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili condemned as Russia’s 'most immoral and shameful precedent in centuries.'

State television showed thousands of cheering Ossetians thronging the streets to welcome Medvedev, who is seen as a hero after the Russian military repelled Georgia’s attempt to seize the breakaway region by force last August.
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Analysts said the timing of the trip was a slap in the face of U.S. President Barack Obama, who had expressed public support for Georgia during his visit to Moscow last week.
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On Monday, Saakashvili said the timing of Medvedev’s trip was no coincidence.

“I do not know whether it was in response to the Nabucco summit, which is considered by them as their great diplomatic failure, or if it was a response to … Obama’s visit,” he said.

Gia Nodia, a political science professor at Tbilisi University, said Medvedev was certainly making a gesture to the West by visiting Tskhinvali. “Medvedev did not respond the day when Obama sent a clear message on Georgia, but now he is saying, ‘We do not care what Obama says,’” Nodia said by telephone from Tbilisi. (Moscow Times)

Screw global warming, I think it's getting a little chilly in here.