Tbilisi Says will not Sign Non-Use of Force Treaties with Sokhumi, Tskhinvali

Georgia has no plans to sign separate agreements on non-use of force with the authorities of breakaway regions, as such move will legitimize “puppet regimes,” Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, said on February 3.

He also stressed that Georgia had already committed itself not to use force under the August 12 ceasefire agreement and it remained committed to this agreement. 

The remarks were made in response to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s February 2 statement in which it called on Tbilisi to sign binding treaties with Sokhumi and Tskhinvali on non-use of force.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko raised the issue at a meeting with the ambassadors from the EU Troika in Moscow on February 2, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. According to the Russian MFA, the ambassadors raised the issue of Russia’s plans to station military bases in the two breakaway regions.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow’s plans were not in contravention of the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreements from August 12 and September 8.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister has also expresses concern over, what he called, mobilization of Georgian troops in the vicinity of South Ossetia.

The Georgian Foreign Minister said on February 3, that Georgia had unilaterally restricted deployment and movement of its armed forces in the areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia under the memorandum of understanding signed between the Georgian Defense Ministry and the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM).

“Instead of voicing absurd requirements, the Russian Federation would better de-occupy our territories, withdraw its occupying forces and stop construction of military bases [in the breakaway regions],” Grigol Vashadze said.

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