Putin blames Bush over Georgia

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has blamed US President George Bush for letting the crisis in Georgia erupt. Putin blamed Bush for failing to rein in the Georgia’s president bid to stop the breakaway territory of South Ossetia. He told a group of Western journalists that he held two meetings with Bush during the Beijing Olympics as the crisis began to unfold, but the US president did not place any pressure on its ally.

"They [Georgian military forces] launched their attacks at 23:30 [on August 7]. I learned about it the following morning. I spoke to Bush. He said 'No one wants war.' We expected something would happen," Putin said.

"I met him again at the stadium. I can't tell you in detail the content of the conversation, but I had the feeling that his administration wouldn't do anything about stopping the conflict," he added.