Russian Diplomat Warns over Sanakoev’s Administration

Tbilisi’s decision to create and support the South Ossetian provisional administration, led by Dimitri Sanakoev, is “dangerous” and “leading in the wrong direction,” Russian Ambassador in Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko said on May 29.

Speaking with South Ossetian reporters in Tskhinvali after talks with secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity, Kovalenko said that there were only two sides to the conflict – Tbilisi and Tskhinvali.

The Russian diplomat also said that Moscow didn’t want tensions in the conflict zone to escalate into war.

Ambassador Kovalenko’s visit to Tskhinvali came after a reported “intensive shootout” in the conflict zone overnight on May 29.

The the Georgian State Ministry for Conflict Resolution Issues said in a statement on May 29 that the incident should serve as “a final warning” of the need to immediately launch “concrete measures” to defuse tensions.

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