During an emergency session in Belgium, NATO foreign ministers suspended their formal contacts with Moscow nearly two weeks after fighting began between Russia and Georgia. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Russia must fulfill its promise to withdraw its forces from the small former Soviet republic.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: “There can be no business as usual with Russia under present circumstances. And the future of our relations will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to honor the words of President Medvedev to abide by the six-point peace plan, which is not happening at the moment, which is not happening as we speak, he signed together with the president of Georgia and which was brokered by the European Union presidency, France”