Offensive Armaments being Supplied to
Georgia
UNITED NATIONS, September 23 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov drew attention of EU foreign ministers to the information about the
deliveries of armaments to Georgia.
“It was useful to inform the European colleagues about Russia’s assessment of
the events” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said.
“The Georgian government has been permanently refusing to sign non-aggression
agreements with Abkhazia and Georgia. We are very concerned about that,” Lavrov
said.
In his words, “the partners offered to continue the discussion of this
problem.”
There is information about the deliveries of a huge amount of offensive
armaments to Georgia through various channels, Lavrov said on Friday.
As for the proposal of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to demilitarize
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Lavrov said, “such proposals are thought provoking
against the background of information about the deliveries of a huge amount of
offensive armaments to Georgia through various channels.”
The statement Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili made at the 61st Session
of the UN General Assembly “will most certainly complicate the efforts taken by
Russia and other intermediaries to settle the conflicts in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia,” Lavrov said.
“The implementation of earlier accords is the key to the resolution of
conflicts,” he said.
“So far, we are witnessing the Tbilisi refusal to implement the non-aggression
agreements and its own commitment to set up a joint working group with North
Ossetia and start drafting a settlement plan. We are naturally concerned about
that,” Lavrov said.
“Military threats must stop before the negotiations start,” he said. “It is
also necessary to stop military preparations, and respect for earlier accords
must be guaranteed.”
The Russian peacekeepers stationed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia fulfill their
duty honesty and efficiency, according to the information of the OSCE and the
UN secretary general, Lavrov said.
“According to the information registered by the UN and the OSCE, Russian
peacekeepers are permanently violating their mandates in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia,” Saakashvili said.
“Nothing is farther from the truth than this statement,” Lavrov said. “I am
amazed by the huge amount of distorted facts in the speech by the Georgian
president.”
Sixty thousand people have returned to Abkhazia, so Georgian claims that
refugees are unable to come back to their Abkhaz homes, including the Gali
district, allegedly because of the Russian peacekeepers are unfounded, Lavrov
said.
“A number of accusations made by the Georgian president in his speech at the
United Nations do not stand to criticism,” he said.
Saakashvili claimed that refugees are allegedly unable to return to Abkhazia,
including the Gali district, because of the Russian peacekeepers, but “60,000
are back home,” Lavrov said. “Besides, Russia has been offering Georgia to
resume the fulfillment of the Sochi summit agreements for over a year now. This
is also a matter of the refugee affairs group.”
“The Georgian side is neglecting the offer and turning down the UN proposals to
re-register the refugees in order to regulate the process of their return,”
Lavrov said.
Tbilisi is ready to sign a comprehensive non-aggression pact with Abkhazia and
South Ossetia only after the pullout of Russian peacekeepers from the conflict
zones and the deployment of international police forces, Saakashvili said at
the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly on Friday.
“It is necessary to change the current format of the settlement negotiations
and the peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as they have
proven to be inefficient,” he said.
Saakashvili described his plan as a roadmap of the settlement of conflicts in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is targeted for “peaceful reunification of
Georgia within the internationally recognized borders.”
”The demilitarization of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with the active support of
the UN, the OSCE, the European Union and other international organizations is a
compulsory element of the roadmap,” he said.
In his words, the implementation of the plan will require “direct dialog
between the Georgian central government and the separatist authorities,”
Saakashvili said. “These efforts can and must bring success through the
deployment of international police forces in the region with the energetic
assistance by the international community,” he said.
“It is impossible to resolve the problem without Russia,” Saakashvili said,
adding that Tbilisi is ready for “working with the northern neighbor.”
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