Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Comments on Peacekeepers

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in an interview with the Russian daily Rosiiskaya Gazeta, published on August 11, that Russian peacekeepers and international observers should carry out monitoring in upper Kodori Gorge.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister also condemnedTbilisi?s decision to station the Abkhaz government-in-exile in the upper Kodori gorge as ?extremely dangerous.? 

However, in a statement issued on August 10 the Georgian Foreign Ministry said that Tbilisi considers it absolutely unacceptable for Russian peacekeepers to participate in the monitoring of upper Kodori Gorge.

?I think that our peacekeepers do not deserve the Georgian side?s accusations that they do not perform their functions…They [peacekeepers] do not represent a party in the conflict. The results of their performance are obvious. No bloodshed or wide-scale clashes have taken place within the past years on the territory controlled by the peacekeepers,? Karasin said in an interview with BBC radio station, which was posted by the Russian Foreign Ministry on August 11.  

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister added that the existing mechanisms for negotiations should be used to settle the Abkhaz conflict.

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