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Moscow Slams Western Diplomats for Tamarasheni Conference

Russia has warned western countries to refrain from any steps that may help to legitimize, as it put it, Georgia?s South Ossetian ?puppet government.?


In a statement issued on September 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned an international conference on Georgia?s foreign policy priorities organized by the Georgian authorities in the village of Tamarasheni, less than a kilometer from the breakaway South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, on September 21.


Foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations accredited in Georgia attended the event, which was addressed by Dimitri Sanakoev, the head of the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration. The Russian ambassador in Tbilisi, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, declined an invitation to attend.


The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the conference obviously aimed at the further promotion of Sanakoev and the ?puppet government?. The participation of western diplomats, it said, was ?an irresponsible step.?


It said that the next logical step for western diplomats after participating in the conference, wherein Sanakoev?s speech was a key part of the event, might be the recognition of the provisional administration of South Ossetia.


?One can easily guess what kind of consequences it may trigger: an escalation in tension and further confrontation in the conflict zone and thwarting of the negotiating process,? the Russian Foreign Ministry said. ?The Russian side hopes that official representatives of foreign states and leading international organizations will be more cautious and critical of such events.?


Russia has also complained that the event, including the movement of foreign diplomats in the conflict zone, was not agreed with the Russian command of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in advance.


A convoy containing the foreign diplomats, en route to Tamarasheni, was briefly stopped by Russian peacekeepers on September 21. The peacekeeping command cited security concerns. After about half an hour, however, the convoy was allowed to continue on its way to Tamarasheni.

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

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