Khaindrava Comments on Recent Developments in S.Ossetia

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava said on Thursday that three Russian military officer detained by the Georgian Military Police on February 8 in the South Ossetian conflict zones may be deported from Georgia.

The Georgian law enforcers say that the Russian officers were detained in the Georgian village of Kurta for not having Georgian entry visas. Khaindrava said that the Georgian side was ready to issue visas for these three officers but could not because “they do not even have passports.”

“We were ready to issue visas, because we really wanted to defuse these tensions – as we do not really want to create additional problems for these three soldiers – but what can we do?.. They do not even have passports… Apparently, we will deport them,” Khaindrava said in an interview with Rustavi 2 television.

He also dismissed reports about the deployment of 250 Georgian soldiers to the village of Eredvi in the conflict zone late on February 8 as “totally false.”

“There have been plenty of false reports coming all night long. No additional troops have been deployed [in the conflict zone]. We have not even filled our quota in the peacekeeping battalion [each side – Russia, Ossetia and Georgia has the right to have a maximum of 500 servicemen in the Joint Peacekeeping Forces]. And we even have the right to deploy troops there to fill this quota, but we have not dispatched anyone there,” Khaindrava said.

Khaindrava also said that the Russian peacekeepers deployed military hardware in several villages in the conflict zone without agreeing on this measure with the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), which is a violation of existing agreements.

“I am now preparing a letter of protest regarding this movement of military hardware. Last night I talked with Boris Chochiev [the South Ossetian Deputy Prime Minister and chief South Ossetian negotiator] and he confirmed that this was not agreed upon with him either. This movement of military hardware was a unilateral decision by Maj. Gen. [Marat] Kulakhmetov [Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces,” Khaindrava stated.

He also warned that more provocations might take place in the South Ossetian conflict zone. He said that these provocations “will be a response by Moscow” to Tbilisi’s hard-line stance on the Russian peacekeeping troops. It is expected that the Georgian Parliament will vote for a withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers on February 15.