S.Ossetian Leader Accuses Tbilisi of Attempting to Use Force

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on February 22 South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity expressed fear that Tbilisi is planning to reintegrate the breakaway region through force, Interfax news agency reported.

He cited Georgia’s increased defense spending and relocation of the military hospital from capital Tbilisi to Gori, a town near the South Ossetian conflict zone, as main the indicators of Tbilisi’s, as he put it, “serious plans to carry out a forceful operation” against South Ossetia.

Kokoity said that the Georgian side’s attempts “to push out” the Russian peacekeeping forces from the conflict zone is motivated by the fact that the Russian troops “hamper Tbilisi from implementing military aggression against South Ossetia.”

“South Ossetia will insist that… the Russian side should implement the peacekeeping operation in the conflict zone,” Kokoity said.