Tskhinvali Denies Violation of Demilitarization Deal
Special Affairs Minister of unrecognized South Ossetian Republic Boris Chochiev denied the Georgian side?s accusations that the de facto republic violated the demilitarization agreement by holding military exercises in the Java district of the breakaway region.
?South Ossetia has not held any military exercises, either in the conflict zone or outside its limits,? Boris Chochiev, who represents the South Ossetian side in the Joint Control Commission, told Regnum news agency on December 2.
He said that two-day exercises were initially planned for reservists but that the maneuvers were postponed.
In a separate interview to the RIA Novosti news agency on December 3, Chochiev also commented on a statement given by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who accused both the Russian and South Ossetian sides of hampering the demilitarization process in the conflict zone.
?The Georgian side is violating the demilitarization agreement. The Georgian side is setting up additional checkpoints in the conflict zone,? he said, adding that the Georgian side has installed five checkpoints between the Georgian villages of Kekhvi and Tamarasheni in the conflict zone.
The South Ossetian representative also blamed the Georgian side for hindering free movement of humanitarian aid intended for Ossetian villages in the conflict zone.
