U.S. Official on Reported Russian Troop Increase in S.Ossetia

A U.S. official said on October 23 that he could not confirm that Russia had sent 2,000 extra troops to breakaway South Ossetia.

When asked if he could confirm the claims by the Georgian authorities that Russia had increased its military presence in South Ossetia to 7,000 troops, Robert Wood, a deputy spokesman of the U.S. Department of State responded: “I can’t confirm it, but you know, I do know that Russian forces do remain in Akhalgori in South Ossetia and in the Kodori Valley.”

“And we want to see these areas demilitarized immediately, but I don’t have a way of confirming the numbers,” he added.

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