Saakashvili Says Georgia Shows Restraint in S.Ossetia
President Saakashvili said despite attacks on the Georgian villages in the South Ossetian conflict zone, Tbilisi was showing “maximum restraint.”
“But we also do not recommend anyone to continue provocations,” he said on August 7.
Saakashvili was speaking with journalists in the military hospital in Gori, a town close to the breakaway region, where he visited two Georgian servicemen injured as a result of intense overnight fighting.
The South Ossetian side reported that 18 people, including one 88-year-old man and four women, were injured on its side after the Ossetian villages of Khetagurov, Dmenisi, Sarabuki, and Ubiat, as well as the outskirts of the capital Tskhinvali, came under “massive shelling” late on August 6 and overnight on August 7.
President Saakashvili said that he hoped Russia, like Georgia, was not interested in escalating the conflict.
“I want to say that in recent days – although we have permanent contacts with Russian diplomats – everyday attacks still continue on Georgian peacekeepers, Georgian policemen and civilians in the villages,” he said. “I want to say it openly that I am sure a deepening of confrontation is neither in Russia’s nor Georgia’s interests.”
He said that recent tensions were a result of “a longtime policy of hysterical militarization and constant military rhetoric” in the region. Saakashvili said this trend was combined with “obvious military propaganda carried out by Russian television stations” in recent days in respect of “this tiny region with less than 30,000 people.”
He said that those behind this were also responsible for the recent tensions.
Saakashvili also called on Russia “to recall its officials” from South Ossetia. He was referring to officials within the South Ossetian secessionist authorities who are ethnic Russians and who had never lived in the region before, including PM Yuri Morozov.
“I call on them to stop violence first and then to return to their homeland [Russia] and to give the people [in South Ossetia] an opportunity for free development,” he said. “Let us demilitarize the region, let us settle the issue peacefully. We should together stop this madness… We call on everybody to immediately stop confrontation.”
