Moscow Hails JPKF, Accuses Tskhinvali of ‘Serious Violation’

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mikheil Kaminin condemned on May 11 the recent incident in the South Ossetian conflict zone involving South Ossetian militia threatening peacekeepers and unarmed OSCE observers as “a serious violation” of existing agreements by the South Ossetian side.
 
The OSCE observers and a patrol of Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) were threatened when they discovered an anti-aircraft gun, a Zu-23-2, and a hand held air defense weapon, a Strela-2, while monitoring the area between the villages of Nikozi and Avnevi in the South Ossetian conflict zone on May 7. Three armed men, who identified themselves as South Ossetian militia, were guarding the weapons. They prevented the observers from monitoring the site by firing shots in the air.
 
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and officials in Tbilisi have also condemned the incident.
 
“Such violations do not promote confidence building between the sides… Use of weapons against the monitoring group – peacekeeping forces and OSCE observers – when they are on duty is illegal,” Kaminin said in a statement.
 
The Zu-23-2 anti-aircraft gun was subsequently recovered and seized during a repeat monitoring mission by the peacekeepers and OSCE observers on May 8. The gun was transferred to the JPKF headquarters in Tskhinvali.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that “the prompt discovery” of the weapon and its seizure “proves the effectiveness” and “impartiality of the Russian peacekeeping forces.”

He also said that the Russian peacekeepers’ reaction to the incident “strengthens the role of the Russian side as a facilitator in the negotiating and conflict resolution process.”

This is a rare case of Moscow accusing Tskhinvali of violating the provisions of the ceasefire agreement

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)