Vasil Sikharulidze \nNational Press Club \nWashington

Ambassador of Georgia to the USA, Canada and Mexico H.E. Dr. Vasil Sikharulidze
National Press Club
Washington, DC
11 August, 2008

I want to thank each of you for coming here at this late hour. I appreciate your attendance on such a short notice.

The time is a critical for my country – a free and democratic Georgia faces extinction at the hands of a brutal Russian invasion that is designed to change state regime in Georgia and destroy the country. This must not, must not, be allowed to happen.

As I stand here, Georgian military units have pulled back to the capital and formed a final defensive perimeter awaiting another Russian attack.

The entire country of Georgia since Friday has faced overwhelming attacks as Russia has used its military might to invade my country—by land, by sea and by air. Cyber attacks have taken down government websites and news outlets to blind the media and world community to their invasion.

Make no mistake, this Russian invasion was premeditated, well planned and executed. Russia has used the separatist conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia that it masterminded, organized, financed, and fought alongside the separatists in the early 1990s, as a launch pad for its military invasion.