The documents signed between South Ossetia and Russia have two main purposes - ensuring the security of South Ossetia, providing military assistance if necessary, and maintaining peace and stability in the region, the head of the information and analytical department of the Presidential Executive Office, political expert Yuri Vazagov said at the press conference in Sputnik South Ossetia.
The press conference was dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia on cooperation in the military sphere, which provides for the deployment of military bases in the region.
"Our countries have indicated that the creation of military bases and, in general, the legislative formalization of military cooperation between Russia and South Ossetia meets the interests of both countries in the military sphere, and also has an impact on maintaining peace and stability in the South Caucasus region," Vazagov said.
He noted that if we take the context of that time and subsequent events up to the second Karabakh war, then the entire set of documents signed between South Ossetia and Russia, and between Russia and Abkhazia, made it possible to create a fairly strong security structure that ensured a balance of power in the region and actually prevented NATO's aggressive creeping into the regions of the South Caucasus.
"The plans and intentions that the Western countries, primarily the United States, had regarding our region were actually suppressed by the potential that was laid down in Russia's military cooperation with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In other words, from our territory, with the help of this military toolkit, Russia could quite easily stop any aggressive encroachments directed not only against our republics, but also against itself," the expert has noted.
Vazagov has emphasized that the agreements signed 15 years ago are still relevant and have significant impact on security and stability issues in the region.
"The Russian military factor, which is present in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, will continue to ensure not only our reliable security, but also the interests of our countries in such a rather turbulent region. After the signing of these agreements, any attempts to create a threat to South Ossetia will be considered by Russia as similar actions against the Russian Federation itself," the expert has noted.
