Tbilisi Insists on Rotation of Peacekeepers

The Georgian side will reopen roads to Tskinvali – capital of breakaway South Ossetia – only after the Georgian peacekeeping units are able to reach the Georgian village of Achabeti via Tskhinvali, Paata Bedianashvili, commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion, told Georgian reporters late on February 19.

The Georgian side blocked roads to Tskhinvali both from the north and south on February 19 after the South Ossetian side announced that a planned rotation of the Georgian peacekeepers in the conflict zone was illegal and refused to let the Georgian peacekeepers move through Tskhinvali.

The shortest way to reach an enclave of Georgian villages north of the Tskinavali is via the capital itself, which is located between Georgian villages to the north and south.