The Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of South Ossetia for post-conflict settlement, Murat Dzhioev has called the transfer of the American anti-tank complexes Javelin to Georgia a dangerous symptom.
"We are worried about Georgia's cooperation with NATO, it's really a very dangerous symptom, that's why we raise these issues in Geneva every time," - said Murat Dzhioev.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has also stated its concern over the build-up of the military presence of the United States in Georgia.
"The Russian Federation, first of all, is worried about the real strengthening of the presence on our borders of a military-political bloc that openly declares us a rival and an adversary. This is not a neighbor, but an extra-regional force. We express grave concern over this fact," - Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in an interview with "Kommersant".
According to the high-ranking Russian diplomat, because of Georgia's position, it has so far failed to move towards the main goal of the Geneva discussions – to ensure reliable security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Karasin reminded that this task was formulated in the Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy agreements.
"For a long time the Georgian delegation has been systematically disrupting even the adoption of a joint statement by the participants in the discussions on the non-use of force. And, it seems, it is not accidental, if we take into account the strengthening of Georgia's military potential carried out by NATO and the US. There is being created a NATO infrastructure in the country, it is planned or it has already begun multimillion-dollar deliveries of the latest weapon systems to Tbilisi: French air defense systems and American anti-tank missile systems. The US is embarking on a military training program for Georgian servicemen," - the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.
Karasin has noted that this situation increases the validity and relevance of the defense cooperation between Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Russia.
Such cooperation will be further strengthened thus to reliably guarantee the peaceful life of these republics.
To this end, our two military bases are stationed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They do not threaten anyone, but they are a guarantee that no one will attack the two young Caucasian republics, and if they attack, they will be decisively repulsed," - Karasin stressed.
Фото: newsader.com
