Putin Says Russia to Maintain Peacekeepers in Conflict Zones

President Vladimir Putin said on June 27 that Russia will maintain its peacekeeping troops in post-Soviet conflict zones despite provocations.

?I want to stress that we will continue to perform our peacekeeping missions, despite open provocations we face,? Putin said while addressing Russian diplomats on June 27.

The Georgian Parliament is expected to discuss the performance of the Russian peacekeepers in breakaway Abkhazia in mid-July, which may result in a demand for their withdrawal. But the resolution is most likely will be as flexible as it was in case of the South Ossetian conflict zone, which does not demand an immediate pull out of Russian peacekeepers.