Kokoity Calls for Talks, Unveils Plans to Cut Armed Forces

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said he is ready to start cutting the breakaway region?s troops by 30% with the hope for a reciprocal move by the Georgian side, the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported on December 11.

Tskhinvali has been accusing Tbilisi of ?militarization,? including in and around the conflict zone.

According to the Georgian government?s account, dated February 2006, the South Ossetian side can mobilize a total of about 5,500 troops. The unrecognized republic?s Defense Ministry forces include up to 2,260 servicemen; the Interior Ministry ? 1,100; Security Committee ? 100; and paramilitary groups ? 2,100, according to the Georgian government.

Speaking at a session of the unrecognized republic?s government in Tskhinvali on December 11, Eduard Kokoity also said that he wants talks to resume in the frames of the quadripartite negotiation format Joint Control Commission (JCC), involving the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia?s North Ossetian sides.

According to the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee Kokoity said that he is ready to meet with the co-chairmen of the JCC and instructed his Foreign Minister Murat Jioyev to organize this meeting.

?The Georgian side has actually brought the negotiating process to nothing. We should not let this happen,? Kokoity said.

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