From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Fri May 02 2008 - 15:21:05 EDT
GEORGIAN MINISTER CONFIDENT 'THERE WILL BE NO WAR'
The Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on May 1 claiming that
the deployment of additional Russian peacekeepers to Abkhazia
constitutes a violation of the May 1994 UN-mediated cease-fire
agreement, which stipulated that such a deployment requires prior
approval by Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. In a May 1 interview with
Reuters, President Saakashvili described the current standoff as "a
moment of truth" for the international community, which he urged to "use
all its diplomatic arsenal to deter the aggressive instincts " of
unnamed Russian politicians. He also said President Vladimir Putin has
told him that Russia's recent moves against Georgia are in retaliation
for international recognition of Kosova's independence, and "a response
to the perceived threat of NATO enlargement." Caucasus Press on May 2
quoted Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze as saying Georgia
has asked the UN to increase the strength of its observer mission
(UNOMIG) in Abkhazia. Speaking in Tbilisi on May 1, Georgian State
Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said that only 700
additional Russian troops have been deployed in Abkhazia's southernmost
Gali Raion, not "thousands" as some Georgian media outlets claimed,
Caucasus Press reported. He stressed that "there is no need to worry,"
and that "there will be no war." LF
|
