Georgia Demands from Russia to Pull out Peacekeepers from South Ossetia
Georgian State Minister for conflict resolutions Goga Khaindrava urged Russia to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the South Ossetian conflict zone.
?We [the Georgian side] can freely control the situation in breakaway South Ossetia. The Russian peacekeepers were deployed in the conflict zone 12 years ago, but now they are no more necessary there, since they do not wish to perform their functions,? Goga Khaindrava said at a news briefing on June 15.
The Georgian side also demands the expulsion of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces, Sviatoslav Nabdzorov.
On June 15 Chairman of the parliamentary committee for defense and security Givi Targamadze accused the Russian commander of accelerating the tension in the conflict zone by making provocative statements.
Following the statement of Sviatoslav Nabdzorov, who threatened to dismantle Georgian police checkpoint in the village of Tkviavi near the breakaway South Ossetia?s capital, Tskhinvali, Georgia dispatched troops to the conflict zone on May 31, which triggered protest of the self-styled South Ossetian Republic.
State Minister Goga Khaindrava condemned once again reports over movement of extra troops and arms in the Tskhinvali region, which allegedly entered into the breakaway region from neighboring Russia?s North Ossetian Republic. .
However, after allegations made by the Georgian side that a convoy of trucks carrying weapons entered the breakaway republic of South Ossetia from Russia, the OSCE Mission in Georgia monitored the situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone on June 12 and ?found no evidence? of any military vehicles in the Tskhinvali area.
