Kitsmarishvili, who had been recalled from Moscow weeks before the war, said Georgian leaders had mistakenly convinced themselves that the assault had the support of U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“Some people who attended the meeting between Condoleezza Rice and Saakashvili (in July 2008) were saying that Condoleezza Rice gave the green light for military action,” he told a news conference.
The United States has started a diplomatic offensive among NATO capitals in Europe, urging top diplomats to offer Georgia and Ukraine membership to the alliance without first fulfilling requirements under the Membership Action Plan, the process that sets out the criteria and conditions for eventually joining the military pact, according to NATO diplomats.
In an unexpected new initiative, Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, has already held lengthy telephone conversations with French and German and other senior envoys, asking them to discard the Membership Action Plan, added the diplomats.