NATO Questions Russia’s Peacekeeper Role

NATO said on July 15 it was concerned by the recent violation of Georgian airspace by Russian aircraft and added that such actions “raise questions about Russia’s role as peacekeeper and facilitator of negotiations.”

“The [NATO] Secretary General is concerned by the recent escalation of tension in Georgia, he is troubled by Russia’s statement that its military aircraft deliberately overflew Georgian territory in violation of its territorial integrity,” Reuters quoted James Appathurai, NATO spokesperson, as saying on behalf of Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

The Russian Foreign Ministry admitted on July 10 that Russian aircraft had flown a sortie over Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia on July 8 to “cool hot heads in Tbilisi.”

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