Russian FM: Georgia’s treacherous attack

On the night of August 7-8, just several hours after the agreement had been reached to hold talks to settle the new round of the South Ossetia conflict Georgian military units undertook a treacherous, massive attack on Tskhinvali. A use-of-force scenario was resorted to by the Georgian leadership, despite all the diplomatic efforts that had been undertaken in contacts among Moscow, Tbilisi, Tskhinvali, Washington and other concerned capitals.

Photo: Russian FM: Georgia’s treacherous attack

The credibility of the Georgian leadership as a responsible participant of the negotiation process and of the international intercourse corresponding to the principles of the United Nations Charter in general has been completely undermined as a result. It has become absolutely understandable why during a long period Tbilisi had under various pretexts stubbornly avoided concluding legally binding agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the nonuse of force.

It is still not too late to prevent massive bloodshed and new casualties, including those among the civilian population. We are also highly concerned about the Russian peacekeepers’ fate.

The Georgian leadership should think better of it and return to civilized methods of solving the complicated issues of political settlement. We also expect that our foreign partners and the international community as a whole will not remain indifferent at this difficult moment when the destinies of the hundreds of thousands of people living in this region are being decided. It is necessary to jointly stop violence that is fraught with the gravest consequences for regional and international security.

The Russian Federation will continue its efforts directed at preventing any further bloodshed and at getting the situation in South Ossetia back into its peaceful course.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

of the Russian Federation