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Russia and Georgia have opened a new front in their feud over the disputed territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian and Georgian envoys traded harsh words at the United Nations. Russia asked the U.N. Security Council Tuesday to condemn Georgia's military activities in its breakaway region of Abkhazia. Vitaly Churkin (file photo) Moscow's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin circulated a draft Security Council resolution calling on Georgia to withdraw its troops from Abkhazia's disputed Kodori Gorge region. The long-simmering Russia-Georgia tensions erupted last week when Georgia detained four Russian military observers in Tbilisi, accusing them of spying. Russia responded...

TV NZ.co New Zealand Russia refuses to lift Georgia ban Tbilisi, capital city of Georgia Oct 4, 2006 Russia has rejected US and EU calls to lift economic sanctions on Georgia, saying it had cut transport links to curb a dangerous military build-up by its pro-Western neighbour. In unusually strident remarks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lashed out at the United States. US support for Georgia had "stimulated" Tbilisi into taking unfriendly steps against Russia, he said. Russia cut rail, air and postal links with the former Soviet republic in response to the arrest of four Russian soldiers on spying...