by Laura Olson
Additional international support will be necessary to establish a lasting peace along the Georgian-Russian border, former Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Nino Burjanadze said Thursday.
Burjanadze spoke on the conflict at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney began his visit to Georgia's capital.
Her talk comes after an announcement Wednesday of $1 billion in U.S. aid to help Georgia rebuild its infrastructure.
The Georgian leader has spent more than a week in the U.S., meeting with officials and attending both parties' political conventions.
The crisis between Georgia and Russia became heated last month over the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The regions have broken away from Georgia, and have close ties to those in the Russian region of North Ossetia.
As tensions between Georgia and these northern regions increased, Russian tanks crossed into Georgian territory and occupied a portion of the country.
Burjanadze characterized Russia's motives as an effort to maintain the country's international influence.
"Russia is clearly trying to set a precedent of open violation of international law," she said. "It is an attempt to establish a new world order."
When asked about her own nation's actions leading up to last month's hostilities, she said only that "the time will come for analysis, but not now."
Earlier this year, Burjanadze stepped down as parliamentary speaker to start the Foundation for Democratic Development, a think tank focused on strengthening Georgia's democratic institutions.
Georgia is grateful for the support it has received from the international community, Burjanadze said.
"It shows that people around the world understand that if we do not respond adequately today we'll have more problems tomorrow," she said.
A long-term solution will require international intervention, such as peacekeepers from outside the feuding nations, Burjanadze said.
"Without a solution to the conflict in these regions," she said, "it is not possible to have real peace."
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