GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken on one of her most delicate diplomatic challenges to date by injecting herself into the centre of talks on resolving the military showdown between Russia and Georgia. Merkel, who showed her skills as a mediator during Germany's EU and G8 presidencies last year, met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the Black Sea coast on Friday and was due in Georgia on Sunday for talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili. German officials have described the trips simply as support for current EU president France's efforts to bed down a fragile ceasefire between Tbilisi and Moscow. But Merkel's shuttle diplomacy has underscored just how high the stakes of the conflict are for Germany, both an ally of the United States and increasingly close economic partner of Russia. “Merkel has taken on this peace mission and now she has a great deal riding on it,” said Alexander Rahr, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. “She must juggle pressure from all sides.” On the one hand, Merkel faces pressure from Washington to deal forcefully with Moscow. At the same time, she must avoid alienating Russia, a top trading partner, energy supplier and destination for German investors. Along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel must also ensure cracks between “old” and “new” Europe that plagued the bloc ahead of the Iraq war do not widen again as Poland and Baltic countries press for a hard line against Russia. Managing these competing demands may become more difficult for the German chancellor as tough negotiations get under way on the fate of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the focus of the standoff between Russia and Georgia. In Sochi on Friday, Merkel strove to strike a balance, openly criticizing Moscow for the first time over its military push into the heart of Georgia, while making clear that Tbilisi shared the blame for the outbreak of violence one week ago. By calling Russia's use of force “disproportionate,” Merkel will have reassured the United States, Georgia's strongest backer. But it may prove harder for Merkel and Sarkozy to paper over differences with Washington going forward. “There is growing potential for divisions across the Atlantic over this conflict,” said Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. “You are already seeing the narrative in the United States and Europe diverge.” In Washington, calls have mounted to punish Russia for its crackdown in Georgia -- for example by freezing talks on it joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) or kicking it out of the G8. Germany and France view such steps as counterproductive. The White House and major European capitals also have conflicting views on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a divergence which has fuelled different perspectives on who is to blame for the conflict in the first place. In Washington Saakashvili has been hailed as a modern, democratic leader with the courage to stand up to Moscow. In Berlin, he is seen as an unreliable and erratic leader whose democratic credentials are less than stellar. Last week a French official described his provocations of Moscow as “mad.” The Georgian president has not helped his cause here with a stream of confrontational rhetoric, directed at Europe as well as Russia, that European officials fear will inflame tensions and make a settlement more difficult to achieve. Transatlantic divisions over NATO membership for Georgia, already contentious at a summit in Bucharest in April, could also widen as a result of the conflict in the Caucasus. In Washington, some argue the conflict would not have blown up in the first place if NATO had extended membership guarantees to Tbilisi. This camp now wants to ramp up efforts to bring Georgia into the military alliance. Merkel and Sarkozy, who opposed a U.S. push to set Georgia on track for NATO membership in Bucharest, see the conflict and Saakashvili's behaviour as proof Georgia is not ready to join. “On balance, I think the U.S. voices arguing for Georgian membership in NATO will be strengthened, while in Europe it may well be quite the opposite,” said Kupchan. While balancing ties with Washington and Moscow, Merkel must also take care that her flurry of diplomacy does not overshadow the efforts of Sarkozy, the flamboyant French leader whose relationship with the chancellor has been rocky at times. At home, Merkel may also struggle to avoid confrontation as political pressures build ahead of a federal election next year.– Reuters __
