Georgia Demands Withdrawal of Additional Russian Troops

The Georgian Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to the secretariat of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – under the aegis of which the Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the conflict zone – demanding withdrawal of additional Russian troops and armament sent to Abkhazia in late April.

“The Note, in particular, indicates that the Georgian side became aware from a letter of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative [to Georgia] Jean Arnault written on the basis of data provided by UNOMIG observers operating in Georgia’s conflict zone of Abkhazia that along with other military units, an airborne battalion, 50 BMD-2 airborne fighting vehicles and two ordnance batteries each consisting of five D-30 artillery pieces were also deployed on the territory of Abkhazia, Georgia,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 21.

“This fact constitutes a violation of the 26 May 1995 Decision of the CIS Heads of State, which led the Georgian side to demand from the CIS Executive Committee an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops illegally stationed on the territory of Georgia under the umbrella of the CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces.”