Lavrov Explains Refusal to Honor Fallen Soldiers in Georgia

Speaking with reporters in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on February 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that his refusal to lay a wreath at the memorial of Georgia’s fallen soldiers during his visit to Georgia on February 18 is a result of Russia?s mediatory status in the process of resolving the conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

?This kind of public event could hardly foster an appropriate atmosphere for the resumption of talks over resolution of the conflicts,? news agency RIA Novosti quotes Sergey Lavrov as saying.

Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili described Lavrov?s refusal to honor the memorial of the fallen soldiers who died in the fight for Georgia?s territorial integrity as ?a non-neighborly gesture.? as a result Sergey Lavrov’s visit has also been downgraded from an “official” visit to a “working” one.

Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said that Lavrov?s refusal is an open demonstration of Moscow?s support for the separatist regimes in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.