0:00:02 > 0:00:06In the summer of 2008, Russia was at war with America's ally, Georgia.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27But little stood between Russia's army and Georgia's capital.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Georgia's President, Mikheil Saakashvili, told President Bush
0:00:36 > 0:00:40that the fate of the world was being decided in his small country.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43America must send military help.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49I told him, "Look, right now, on your watch,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51"you might see the reversal,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54"basically, the demise of the Soviet Union."
0:00:54 > 0:00:56It might be restored right now in my country,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00and it would be a very tragic turn of history for us certainly,
0:01:00 > 0:01:01for us it would be the end,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04but certainly for the US and for the world.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09In the White House, Bush's team weighed their options.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It was a delicate situation.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15The Russians had attacked our ally, the Georgians.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18To see the Russians beat up on a small country
0:01:18 > 0:01:20was really unpalatable for us.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22There was a clear feeling on...
0:01:22 > 0:01:27on the part, I think, of virtually everybody in the situation room,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29that the Russians had flat out committed an aggression
0:01:29 > 0:01:31against an independent state.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35The issue was do we put in combat power or not?
0:01:35 > 0:01:38What you needed was ground troops if you were going to save Tbilisi.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the world's two biggest
0:01:43 > 0:01:46nuclear powers had never been so close to war.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14The conflict that almost led to war between two superpowers began
0:02:14 > 0:02:17to explode more than two years earlier.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's west-leaning President,
0:02:23 > 0:02:28was heading for a showdown with Russia.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Message of Georgia
0:02:30 > 0:02:34to our great neighbour, Russia, is,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36enough is enough.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40In the Georgian capital, he ordered the arrest of Russian officers
0:02:40 > 0:02:43for spying, and publicly humiliated them.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Russia cut ties with Georgia and deported Georgian workers.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25To stop Putin going any further,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28the American Secretary of State came to Moscow.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30I was not brought immediately
0:03:30 > 0:03:32to see President Putin, which
0:03:32 > 0:03:35had generally been the practice,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37I would just land and I would go to meet with him.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39And this time they told me I needed to wait.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42The Russian President was meeting his military
0:03:42 > 0:03:44and intelligence advisors.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13It was five o'clock, five thirty, six o'clock, six thirty.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Finally about seven thirty they said, "He's ready to see you now."
0:04:19 > 0:04:23A car came to collect Rice, but it didn't take her to the Kremlin.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Past the city suburbs, she was sped into the countryside.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Finally, Rice found herself at the door of an old hunting lodge.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41I walked into this dark panelled room,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45with the entire Russian National Security establishment
0:04:45 > 0:04:49over a banquet table, just Bill Burns, our Ambassador, and me.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01It was, you know, a quite unusual circumstance.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04I mean it wasn't the normal place to receive a foreign minister,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06let alone the American Secretary of State.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31It was Dmitri Medvedev's birthday and President Putin said,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35"Oh, we thought you'd like to join us for the birthday party."
0:05:35 > 0:05:39So, there we were, having the birthday party.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42After a while I said to him, "You know, we have some work to do."
0:05:52 > 0:05:54The Secretary of State was finally able
0:05:54 > 0:05:58to get to the point of her visit, Putin's treatment of Georgia.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03I said that President Bush had told me to come and say
0:06:03 > 0:06:06that if they did anything in Georgia, Russia,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09that that would be a rupture in US-Russia relations.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14And all of a sudden, President Putin stood up, and now
0:06:14 > 0:06:19I was seated, he was standing and so I stood up, too, reflexively,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21and so the two of us were standing there
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and he said, "You tell the President that I'll do
0:06:25 > 0:06:29"what I need to do," and it was pretty hard-edged.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34There was no mistaking President Putin's point that
0:06:34 > 0:06:37if there were Georgian provocations that would cause a security
0:06:37 > 0:06:41problem that, you know, Russian would respond.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45The Georgian crisis wasn't over yet.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47And Putin was determined to stop America
0:06:47 > 0:06:50encroaching on any of his other borders.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58Three...two...one...zero.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Above all, Putin felt threatened by an American plan to put
0:07:05 > 0:07:09military hardware in Poland and the Czech Republic.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Washington said it was to defend against long-range
0:07:12 > 0:07:14missiles from Iran.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18But Putin was convinced it was aimed at Russia's missiles.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45At a summit of world leaders in Germany,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Bush braced himself for more of Putin's anger.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57But Putin was one step ahead of him.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00I met with my Russian counterpart, Sergei Prikhodko,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and he signalled that President Putin had personally
0:08:03 > 0:08:05been engaged and thinking about
0:08:05 > 0:08:08missile defence co-operation and had some ideas,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12concrete ideas that he wanted to share with the President.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22And, so, I obviously informed the President
0:08:22 > 0:08:27and with a smile he said, "Well, let's see what the man's got."
0:08:27 > 0:08:30When the leaders met, Putin revealed a new,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34constructive approach to missile defence.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04He made some interesting suggestions. I told Vladimir we're looking forward
0:09:04 > 0:09:06to having him up to my folks' place in Maine.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16At the Bush family's summer home, the leaders obliged the press
0:09:16 > 0:09:20with a photo-opportunity, and some fish, then got down to business.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26President Putin actually presented kind of a schematic about how US,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29European and Russian assets might work together
0:09:29 > 0:09:31to provide missile defence.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44We thought, "Aha, we've got the breakthrough we've been looking for,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47"for almost 15 years or so."
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Bush seized on the opening.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52The President said,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55"Look, let's take a clean sheet of paper.
0:09:55 > 0:10:02"We can design a truly co-operative missile defence system
0:10:02 > 0:10:07"protecting Europe, Russia and the United States' interests in Europe."
0:10:20 > 0:10:23The two leaders took to the cameras to herald a new era
0:10:23 > 0:10:25in US-Russian cooperation.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Here's the thing when you're dealing with a world leader,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31you wonder whether or not he's telling the truth or not.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Do I trust him? Yeah, I trust him.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36He just laid out a vision.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40I think it's very sincere.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42I think it's innovative.
0:10:42 > 0:10:43I think it's strategic.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Putin had offered Bush a genuine opportunity to prove that
0:10:49 > 0:10:52missile defence wasn't aimed at Russia.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54But there was a catch.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17President Bush had no intention of giving up on the bases in Poland
0:11:17 > 0:11:19and the Czech Republic,
0:11:19 > 0:11:24so he told America's two most senior negotiators to square the circle.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28The President promised, and we are here to act on that promise
0:11:28 > 0:11:34that we would try and find ways to cooperate to the common good.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37While we insisted that we were consulting with the Russians about
0:11:37 > 0:11:40this, the perception, I think, on President Putin's part
0:11:40 > 0:11:42was that we were just informing them
0:11:42 > 0:11:45of decisions that we intended to put into action.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48And, you know, that produced a fair amount of resentment
0:11:48 > 0:11:51and suspicion on... on his side.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Putin questioned whether the Americans really needed
0:12:11 > 0:12:13a missile defence system.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17He, sort of, passed me this piece of paper that...
0:12:17 > 0:12:19that showed the range arcs
0:12:19 > 0:12:21of Iranian missiles.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38He was basically saying that their intelligence was that
0:12:38 > 0:12:40the Iranians couldn't have a missile
0:12:40 > 0:12:43that could hit Europe for years and years and years.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I said, "You need to get a new intelligence service."
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Gates suggested a way forward.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52I said we could offer to wait for the installation
0:12:52 > 0:12:56of the interceptors until the Iranians had flight tested
0:12:56 > 0:12:58a missile that could hit Europe.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The offer went down well.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05But the Russians feared that they would still end up
0:13:05 > 0:13:06as the Americans' target.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10And the Pentagon's PowerPoint presentation didn't persuade them.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25I thought that there were a lot of things we could offer
0:13:25 > 0:13:29in the way of transparency, in terms of giving them access.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34We could even have a, more or less, permanent Russian presence there,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36like arms inspectors.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54All these measures that I talked about,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56I was just making up on the spot.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00If Condi and I agreed that we could do these things then why not see
0:14:00 > 0:14:05if we could make some headway with Putin.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I'm not sure how much consternation there was back in Washington
0:14:30 > 0:14:33when we reported what we'd offered.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Rice and Gates had gone too far
0:14:40 > 0:14:44for a powerful part of the Washington establishment.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I was doubtful that this actually indicated
0:14:47 > 0:14:51a Russian desire to actually cooperate on missile defence.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54My view was a lot of what they were doing was tactically
0:14:54 > 0:14:58aimed at preventing us from moving forward on missile defence.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01They wanted us not to put in any military infrastructure
0:15:01 > 0:15:03into territory that they regarded as
0:15:03 > 0:15:06in some sense, if not theirs, at least,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10with an asterisk, former property of Russia. Handle with caution.
0:15:11 > 0:15:18There were several areas in which the interagency process here
0:15:18 > 0:15:22sanded off some of the sharp edges of the offers
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and made them less attractive.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30The Americans put the offers in writing as Putin had asked,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33but dropped their original offer of a permanent Russian presence
0:15:33 > 0:15:36at the Czech and Polish sites.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Instead, they proposed that Russian embassy attaches
0:15:39 > 0:15:41could occasionally visit the sites.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Bush continued to say he wanted
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Putin's cooperation on missile defence,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58but the two countries were now
0:15:58 > 0:16:02coming into conflict on another front.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Morning. Sunday, the people of Kosovo declared their independence.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09They have asked the United States for diplomatic recognition
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and yesterday the United States formally recognized
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Kosovo as a sovereign and independent nation.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27By recognising a breakaway state, Bush unintentionally
0:16:27 > 0:16:31reignited the conflict between his ally, Georgia, and Russia.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37At a regional gathering, Putin warned Georgia's leader
0:16:37 > 0:16:40that America had created a dangerous precedent.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Georgia's President felt vulnerable.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56We are small in size, and, actually,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58we are very close to Russia,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00and we are far from Europe,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04and this, if you look carefully at the geography,
0:17:04 > 0:17:10it was an ideal target for any revanchist Russian government.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Relations between Georgia and Russia had been tense
0:17:14 > 0:17:17since the fall of the Soviet Union.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Two provinces of Georgia had rebelled,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Backed by Russia, they remained outside Georgia's control.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31Three years earlier, Saakashvili had set out to subdue
0:17:31 > 0:17:33the smaller of the two, South Ossetia.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39The rebels, armed and trained by Russia, fought back.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45We really needed to, you know, have further American presence
0:17:45 > 0:17:48with the Russians, to somehow convince the Russians
0:17:48 > 0:17:50that it wasn't in their interests,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52because they wouldn't just listen to us.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Saakashvili went to see the then Secretary of State, Colin Powell.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01He was young and somewhat impulsive
0:18:01 > 0:18:04and his impulses sometimes....
0:18:04 > 0:18:07caused him to go further than he should
0:18:07 > 0:18:09based on the situation he was in.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Are you going to be provoked by Russia?
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Some very crazy and outrageous things were said by some
0:18:16 > 0:18:20of the Russian politicians, like the fact that Georgians are infringing on
0:18:20 > 0:18:24their sovereignty, I mean since when does Russia own a piece of Georgia?
0:18:26 > 0:18:30The Secretary of State knew this was not going to be an easy meeting.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33We wanted to be supportive of him,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35but I had to make it clear to him that,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39"You may think this is in your vital national interest,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43"we're not sure that it is, but it isn't in our vital national interest.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48"So, don't get yourself into a situation that may overwhelm you
0:18:48 > 0:18:54"and think that we are going to race in to rescue you
0:18:54 > 0:18:58"from any difficulties you get into. So be careful."
0:18:58 > 0:19:02He told me "Listen, son, you know you've got here a situation,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04"but it is still not a crisis."
0:19:04 > 0:19:11What we are anxious to do is calm the situation down, remove tensions
0:19:11 > 0:19:14and the propensity for provocation and get back to dialogue.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19We stay in close touch with our Russian colleagues as well.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Saakashvili pulled Georgian troops out of South Ossetia.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45But over the next three years, Georgia spent
0:19:45 > 0:19:47millions of American dollars on its military.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53In South Ossetia, Russians were appointed as ministers
0:19:53 > 0:19:59of defence, security and interior - and even as Prime Minister.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02And Moscow offered Russian citizenship
0:20:02 > 0:20:04to anyone in the province who asked.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12In February 2008, Georgia applied for membership of NATO,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17the alliance created to defend the west against Russia.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Three weeks later he was in Washington again
0:20:35 > 0:20:37to win the President's support.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42He chose words straight out of Bush's own phrasebook.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45What we are up to now is to implement this freedom agenda,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48for the sake of our people, for the sake of our values,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51for the sake of what the United States means to all of us
0:20:51 > 0:20:55because the US is exporting idealism to the rest of the world.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57He was terrific, he was on message.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00He came into the President with a message about the importance
0:21:00 > 0:21:03of recognising that his legacy...
0:21:03 > 0:21:06his legacy was building a democratic Georgia.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09This was music to our ears, this was the right message.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13I believe Georgia benefits from being a part of NATO.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16And I told the President it's a message I'll be taking to Bucharest.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Bucharest would be the venue for the next NATO Summit,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22where Georgia's bid would be discussed.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Bush would have a formidable opponent,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32She insisted Georgia wasn't ready to join NATO,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35not least because of its conflict with Russia.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02NATO members gathered
0:22:02 > 0:22:06at the palace built by Romania's former communist dictator.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11The Foreign Ministers were to meet that evening.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14The main items on the agenda were bids by Georgia
0:22:14 > 0:22:17and Ukraine to join the Alliance,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21via what they all called a Membership Action Plan or "MAP".
0:22:21 > 0:22:26To grant MAP required the unanimous consent of all NATO members.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31My impression was that
0:22:31 > 0:22:36some allies had made commitments to
0:22:36 > 0:22:40the Russians that MAP would not be granted.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The East Europeans were quite emotional,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02coming very close to saying to the Germans, "You, of all people,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05"shouldn't be standing in the way of these countries that
0:23:05 > 0:23:09"suffered under tyranny..." Coming awfully close to saying,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13"..thanks to what the Germans had done in the 1930s and the 1940s."
0:23:37 > 0:23:42Such disputes were normally resolved by officials before the leaders met.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45The Americans decided to sort it out over breakfast with
0:23:45 > 0:23:48the key opponents of MAP, Germany and France.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52At midnight I'm making calls
0:23:52 > 0:23:54saying, "Guess what?
0:23:54 > 0:23:57"Sorry to wake you up but there's an extra meeting."
0:24:15 > 0:24:18We argued that if we were to back down
0:24:18 > 0:24:22in the face of Russian pressure
0:24:22 > 0:24:25and not give them MAP, that actually
0:24:25 > 0:24:31that in itself could be provocative by suggesting to the Russians
0:24:31 > 0:24:37that they could permanently keep Georgia and Ukraine out of NATO.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58As the formalities of the leaders' session got underway,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02frantic efforts continued around them to broker a compromise.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Steve Hadley and I went back behind the curtain,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20and I said, "You know, we'd better get the Poles involved in this,"
0:25:20 > 0:25:23because I was hoping that Radek would carry the East Europeans
0:25:23 > 0:25:25if we and the German's came to some conclusion.
0:25:25 > 0:25:32The Germans were not opposing the idea of these two countries
0:25:32 > 0:25:33eventually joining NATO,
0:25:33 > 0:25:38they just didn't want to start the process quite yet.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41We got to some language that was more or less workable,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45it wasn't perfect but it was close enough it,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47it was going to punt to the foreign ministers to make
0:25:47 > 0:25:52a decision in December and so, it was enough from our point of view.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57Postponing a decision for eight months satisfied Bush and Merkel.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00But not the former Soviet satellites.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04The Eastern and Central Europeans went ballistic.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08They thought that the document was a capitulation to Russian pressure
0:26:08 > 0:26:13and Russian veto and they wanted changes to be made.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17The Polish president said, "We want MAP today, not in December. We want it today."
0:26:17 > 0:26:21And I thought, "Oh, my goodness! Something has fallen apart here."
0:26:21 > 0:26:25All the foreign ministers get up and go to the back of the room.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30And then Angela Merkel gets up from her chair and goes to
0:26:30 > 0:26:34the back and sits down at a table in the midst of these grey-haired men.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37And that's when Merkel herself grabbed the pen.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41The German Chancellor suggested a compromise.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Much to my surprise, when I went back it said,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48"Georgia and Ukraine will become members of NATO."
0:26:48 > 0:26:50I thought, "This a pretty good deal!"
0:26:50 > 0:26:51I said to the president, "Take it."
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Germany and France would get what they wanted,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58no Membership Action Plan.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00In return, Georgia would be promised
0:27:00 > 0:27:03full NATO membership at a later date.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08And it results in Gordon Brown leaning over to President Bush
0:27:08 > 0:27:11and saying, "I know we didn't give Georgia and Ukraine MAP
0:27:11 > 0:27:15"but I'm not sure we didn't just make them members."
0:27:15 > 0:27:18But it was a hollow victory.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20The prospective members were given no clue
0:27:20 > 0:27:22how long they would have to wait.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Within weeks of the NATO Summit, Russia upped its support
0:27:30 > 0:27:33for Georgia's separatist provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42Georgia flew drones over the region to monitor Russian troop movements.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Russian fighters shot them down.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Russian "peacekeepers" were caught transporting arms
0:27:52 > 0:27:53to the separatists.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00And in May, Russia sent specialist troops into Abkhazia
0:28:00 > 0:28:02to repair a disused railroad.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07The only strategic reason to restore the railroad would be
0:28:07 > 0:28:12if you wanted to transport heavy equipment, that is to say, tanks.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14And tanks are assault weapons.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19But there was a glimmer of hope for the Georgian President.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Vladimir Putin, after eight years as President,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29stood down and became Prime Minister.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40With the new President, Dmitry Medvedev,
0:28:40 > 0:28:42came the chance for a fresh start.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19The Russians immediately raised a sticking point.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23They wanted a commitment that Georgia would never use force
0:29:23 > 0:29:25in the disputed provinces.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35They told us, "You sign documents with the separatists,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37"with Russia as a guarantor."
0:29:37 > 0:29:42We told them, "Look, we are willing to sign any commitment under
0:29:42 > 0:29:45"international guarantees, which are not Russian guarantees,
0:29:45 > 0:29:50"because it is like giving a fox a mandate to guard a chicken house."
0:29:51 > 0:29:55The last time Georgia signed an agreement with Russia as guarantor,
0:29:55 > 0:29:572,000 Russian troops arrived
0:29:57 > 0:29:59as peacekeepers in the disputed provinces.
0:30:02 > 0:30:0514 years later, they were still there.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11Saakashvili suggested a summit to discuss a new plan
0:30:11 > 0:30:13for one of the provinces, Abkhazia.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17The Russian troops would pull back a few miles,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21but they would retain control of most of the territory.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Medvedev replied that Saakashvili
0:30:25 > 0:30:28must sign a no use of force pledge first.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36At the start of July, both Presidents
0:30:36 > 0:30:39were in Kazakhstan for the birthday party of its President.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43Saakashvili was determined to press his plan.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48During the day I tried to interact with Medvedev,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51but official protocol was making sure we don't get really in touch.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53They were keeping us apart.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12In the evening, their host took them to a nightclub.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23So, I had the opportunity
0:31:23 > 0:31:27to tell him, "Look, we are really getting into a precarious situation.
0:31:27 > 0:31:28"Things are escalating."
0:31:37 > 0:31:42But Medvedev's invitation carried the same conditions as before,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45sign a no use of force pledge first.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51And he said, "You know, I'm so pleased to be with you here,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53"and we are listening to the same music,
0:31:53 > 0:31:58"we like the same social environment, we are at ease with each other,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02"but back in Moscow there are different rules of the game."
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Diplomacy stalled and the situation on the ground worsened,
0:32:13 > 0:32:16as Georgians and separatists shelled each other.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34The Russian Foreign Minister turned to Georgia's protector, America.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53I said that their behaviour was making it very difficult for him
0:32:53 > 0:32:58in terms of domestic audiences, to sign a no use of force pledge.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01I mean, after all they were moving railway troops in, they'd been
0:33:01 > 0:33:04doing that for about four months, to quote, "Construct the railway".
0:33:15 > 0:33:20It will be another generation before they're in NATO if they use force.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Rice knew her confident prediction might be proved wrong
0:33:27 > 0:33:29unless she got more involved.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33She flew to the Georgian capital with a mission
0:33:33 > 0:33:37that would test her diplomatic powers to the limit.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Well, hello, how are you? Good to see you. Good to see you.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42How are you?
0:33:42 > 0:33:47'I can remember looking out over Tbilisi as Saakashvili pointed out'
0:33:47 > 0:33:50different things that were being built
0:33:50 > 0:33:52and churches that were being restored.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55The whole of Georgia is under big renovation.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Here there were lots of very ugly buildings,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00but we really want to make it a very special place.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Saakashvili told Rice that the Russians would soon take
0:34:04 > 0:34:08permanent control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
0:34:08 > 0:34:13I said to Condi, "Look, Condi, we are in a precarious situation.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17"We are basically getting into a downward spiral which is
0:34:17 > 0:34:19"getting us to an absolute oblivion.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23"We really can get to worst case scenario here.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26"As it looks, it doesn't look promising on the Russian side."
0:34:26 > 0:34:32I said, "Mr President, you need to sign this no use of force pledge."
0:34:32 > 0:34:35He said, "Why would I do that?
0:34:35 > 0:34:37"I will get nothing for it."
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Condi Rice kept repeating "I know the Russians," she would say.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43"They will not go to war."
0:34:43 > 0:34:46And we always said, "We hope you're right.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49"We hope you know them better than we do."
0:34:49 > 0:34:53We were pleading, "Please, Secretary of State, what happens
0:34:53 > 0:34:57"if Russia continues to expand its military
0:34:57 > 0:34:59"expansion in the territory of Georgia?
0:34:59 > 0:35:04"What if Russia expands the scope of its attacks over the civilians?"
0:35:04 > 0:35:09I said, "Rely on the international community to support and defend you." I kept repeating,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12"Because if you engage Russian forces, you will lose."
0:35:13 > 0:35:17To encourage Saakashvili to sign the no use of force pledge,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21Rice offered American and European participation in peace talks.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25And she said, "We will bring it to the UN General Assembly.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28"End of September, we will get Lavrov and other foreign ministers
0:35:28 > 0:35:32"from EU countries, and we will have high-level talks
0:35:32 > 0:35:36"on how to create a new some kind of venue for things to be discussed."
0:35:36 > 0:35:42He's no fool, Saakashvili understood her logic, sort of tilted his head,
0:35:42 > 0:35:47thought, like ten seconds silent, and said, "All right, OK, I'm in."
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Rice had won the diplomatic battle.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54But in the press conference the following morning,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58she said something that invited misunderstanding.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02We take very, very strongly our obligation to help our allies
0:36:02 > 0:36:05defend themselves and no-one should be confused about that.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08It was very important for the Georgians to know that
0:36:08 > 0:36:10if they did the difficult things,
0:36:10 > 0:36:12the United States would stand by them
0:36:12 > 0:36:14if the Russians didn't stand by their obligations.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18And I absolutely, deliberately, in front of the press,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21said that the United States would stand by Georgia.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25The parties agreed to meet in two months' time.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29They all went on their summer breaks.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Saakashvili departed for a health farm in Italy,
0:36:32 > 0:36:37and Medvedev took a cruise on Russia's Volga River.
0:36:43 > 0:36:44But at the end of July,
0:36:44 > 0:36:49Ossetians and Georgians resumed sniping and shelling each other.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54GUNFIRE
0:37:23 > 0:37:27The Russian and American diplomats who looked after the region
0:37:27 > 0:37:29were confident they could handle it.
0:37:29 > 0:37:34I call Karasin who was both concerned and, to listen to him,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36willing to be helpful.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01He said he would work with the South Ossetians,
0:38:01 > 0:38:05so this was what I considered to be a constructive call,
0:38:05 > 0:38:10and on Monday I brief Rice that there was a flare up,
0:38:10 > 0:38:13the Russians say they'll take care of it, so we're watching it.
0:38:16 > 0:38:21The Russians sent more peacekeeping troops into South Ossetia,
0:38:21 > 0:38:23and just north of the border,
0:38:23 > 0:38:2712,000 Russian troops were poised, battle-ready.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33On the 7th of August, Georgia mobilised its army.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Russia sent an Ambassador, Yuri Popov,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41to talk to Georgia's peace negotiator.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46They were due to meet in the heart of South Ossetia.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48But the Russian didn't show up.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19So, the Georgian turned to the Russian commander
0:39:19 > 0:39:21of the peacekeepers.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34GUNFIRE
0:40:54 > 0:40:58But Saakashvili's forces continued to mobilise.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05The Russian envoy Yuri Popov now had four good tyres,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07and was on the road inside Georgia.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36There was already a Russian presence,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40there was already an annexation process under way, de-facto,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44on the ground and I don't know if it crossed red, yellow or green lines,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47but it certainly crossed every line of civilized behaviour,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50and you know we had no other way but to act.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16Eka called me and said that they were going to establish
0:42:16 > 0:42:19constitutional authority over South Ossetia.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Well, what I understood was that they were moving in.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26I recall telling her to be careful.
0:42:27 > 0:42:32Your strongest asset is the perception that you're the victim
0:42:32 > 0:42:35in this situation and don't lose that.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40At 10:30 that evening, Saakashvili received reports that
0:42:40 > 0:42:44Georgian villages had come under fire.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47An hour later he picked up the phone.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58We thought that, you know, at least we could,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01we would win some time, hold back Russians for some time,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04and hopefully the international community would wake up
0:43:04 > 0:43:09and we concentrate efforts, we would get some kind of reversal.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49The Russian President was woken by a phone call.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19After a night of rocketing and shelling
0:44:19 > 0:44:21in which civilians and soldiers were killed,
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Georgia's troops moved on the South Ossetian capital.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30Russian peacekeepers were among the casualties.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50For the first time in three decades,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53Russian tanks advanced into a neighbouring country.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59Georgia's armed forces were now at war
0:44:59 > 0:45:03with one of the largest militaries in the world.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16In Beijing, everyone was celebrating
0:45:16 > 0:45:20the Olympic Spirit of a peaceful and better world.
0:45:21 > 0:45:27Among the leaders arriving for the opening ceremony was Vladimir Putin.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, introduced him to his son Louis
0:45:32 > 0:45:35then attempted some impromptu diplomacy.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25"Nyet."
0:46:29 > 0:46:34Russia's forces were already pushing the Georgians back in South Ossetia.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37Their air force now set out to destroy Georgia's defences
0:46:37 > 0:46:40and targeted the capital itself.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46On the second day of the war they flew 120 bombing sorties.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24The American Secretary of State phoned Moscow
0:47:24 > 0:47:26to demand its army call a halt.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30The Russian Foreign Minister responded with a tough condition.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33He said, "Misha Saakashvili has to go."
0:47:33 > 0:47:38And, I said, "Sergei, the American Secretary of State
0:47:38 > 0:47:42"and the Russian foreign minister do not have a private conversation
0:47:42 > 0:47:46"about overthrowing a democratically elected president."
0:47:57 > 0:48:01I think it's quite clear that the Russians intended to use this
0:48:01 > 0:48:04conflict to depose Saakashvili.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09But I felt that the best guarantee that they couldn't,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12would be to make public their demand that he go.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Rice called America's Ambassador at the United Nations,
0:48:16 > 0:48:21and told him to reveal Lavrov's words to the Security Council.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25In that conversation, Foreign Minister Lavrov
0:48:25 > 0:48:26told US Secretary of State Rice
0:48:26 > 0:48:30that the democratically elected President of Georgia
0:48:30 > 0:48:37and I quote, "Saakashvili must go," end of quote.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43This is completely unacceptable and crosses a line.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Russian forces were now deep inside Georgia.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17Saakashvili was in the town of Gori, near his army's headquarters,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19as the Russians closed in.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40The next day, the Russians advanced to within 40 miles
0:49:40 > 0:49:42of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47Saakashvili rang Washington for help.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51President Bush convened his national security team.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53There was a clear feeling
0:49:53 > 0:49:57on the part, I think, of virtually everybody in the situation room,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01that the Russians had flat out committed an aggression against
0:50:01 > 0:50:03an independent state,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05and were proceeding to dismember it.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08There was a little bit of chest beating around the table
0:50:08 > 0:50:10about what we would do, and we had to keep
0:50:10 > 0:50:13the Russians from doing this and talk about how we could signal
0:50:13 > 0:50:17militarily that this would be a foolhardy thing to do.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21The issue was, "Do we put in combat power or not."
0:50:21 > 0:50:24What you needed was ground troops if you were going to save Tbilisi.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28Steve Hadley is not somebody who usually roils the waters very much
0:50:28 > 0:50:32but I think he decided that this was getting a bit out of control,
0:50:32 > 0:50:37and so he said, "I just want to ask that we step back for a moment,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40"and recognize that if we are prepared
0:50:40 > 0:50:44"to start signalling the Russians that we will do something militarily
0:50:44 > 0:50:48"if they do indeed move to Tbilisi, then we're on the hook to do it."
0:50:52 > 0:50:55I was pretty adamant,
0:50:55 > 0:51:00and I think Secretary Rice was as well,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03that we not give weapons assistance to Saakashvili.
0:51:03 > 0:51:10My feeling at the time was that the Russians had baited a trap
0:51:10 > 0:51:13and Saakashvili had walked right into it,
0:51:13 > 0:51:15and so they were both culpable.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Saakashvili's gamble had failed.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22The Americans were not prepared to risk war
0:51:22 > 0:51:25with the world's second nuclear power.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32The President of France now took centre stage.
0:51:46 > 0:51:47Before he arrived,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51President Sarkozy sent the Russians a draft ceasefire agreement.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Not so little.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48He changed the first sentence,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51"Georgian and Russian forces will withdraw fully".
0:52:51 > 0:52:53With a deletion it now read,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56"Georgian forces will withdraw fully".
0:53:10 > 0:53:12Sarkozy threatened to leave
0:53:12 > 0:53:16unless the Russians took the negotiations seriously.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59The French President wrote out four further clauses
0:53:59 > 0:54:01on the ending of hostilities,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04the withdrawal of Russian and Georgian forces,
0:54:04 > 0:54:09and additional security measures Russia could take on the ground.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11And the Russians insisted on a sixth clause
0:54:11 > 0:54:13saying that the independence
0:54:13 > 0:54:16of the disputed territories had to be on the agenda.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Sarkozy flew straight to Georgia.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38There, President Saakashvili was holding a public rally
0:54:38 > 0:54:42to show defiance to Russia and prove he still had popular support.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Then he met the travel-weary French President.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51Saakashvili said that clause six
0:54:51 > 0:54:55would lose Georgia the two disputed provinces forever.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58He made a plea to Sarkozy in French.
0:55:00 > 0:55:01I told him ...
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Saakashvili reluctantly agreed,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53on condition that there be no talks on the future status
0:55:53 > 0:55:56of Abkhazia or South Ossetia.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58It was still a bitter defeat for Georgians,
0:55:58 > 0:56:04but Sarkozy helped Saakashvili to save face.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24Russia had said its offensive was now over.
0:56:24 > 0:56:25But the next morning
0:56:25 > 0:56:28they appeared to tighten their stranglehold on Georgia.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32This is the main road out of Gori
0:56:32 > 0:56:35and coming up it is a Russian column.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38We think they're moving to a Georgian base,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41but what they are doing is pushing further into Georgia.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45The President and I were talking about this.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47The Russians weren't stopping.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Were they really going for Tbilisi? What were they doing in Gori?
0:56:50 > 0:56:53And we needed somehow to send a stronger signal.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00I've also directed Secretary of Defense Bob Gates to begin
0:57:00 > 0:57:03a humanitarian mission to the people of Georgia
0:57:03 > 0:57:05headed by the United States military.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09This mission will be vigorous and ongoing.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11We wanted to use the military aircraft
0:57:11 > 0:57:14to let the Russians know that we were serious
0:57:14 > 0:57:18about them not going any further toward Tbilisi,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22or toward overrunning the rest of Georgia.
0:57:23 > 0:57:24The Russians stopped.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31But their forces would remain in Saakashvili's country.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49Russia had torn apart an American ally
0:57:49 > 0:57:51and Washington was forced to accept it.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56America's attempts to expand its influence in Russia's backyard
0:57:56 > 0:57:58had been checked.
0:58:09 > 0:58:14But the independence of Georgia's disputed territories was recognised
0:58:14 > 0:58:16by only three other countries -
0:58:16 > 0:58:20Venezuela, Nicaragua and the tiny Pacific island of Nauru.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28Standing alone was a price Russia was prepared to pay.
0:58:54 > 0:58:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:57 > 0:58:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk