Foreign Ministry statement on South Ossetia

The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the Georgian authorities not to let the situation in South Ossetia reach a dangerous level.

Moscow is extremely concerned over reports that the Georgian government is proceeding with its illegal and provocative actions in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, said a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department forwarded to RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"Notably, despite insistent demands the military property, which was being sent as additional equipment to the peacekeepers with the consent of the Georgian side and in accordance with the decision of the mixed control commission for settling the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and was illegally seized during a brutal display of force, has been returned to the interethnic peacekeeping forces," the document said.

"Undoubtedly, the seizure of the military property was deliberately aimed at aggravating the situation in South Ossetia and undermining Russian-Georgian relations," the document continued.

According to the document, statements of some high Georgian officials justifying the actions of the Georgian security agencies against Russian peacekeepers were particularly bewildering.

"Those who encourage perpetrators of this dirty idea should realize that they are responsible for escalating tensions in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone," the statement said. "Besides, Tbilisi seems to ignore the fact that aggravation of the crisis threatens security in South Ossetia, with Russian citizens accounting for the majority of the local population."

According to the document, in these circumstances, the Russian side resolutely condemns the actions of the Georgian government aimed at destabilizing the situation in South Ossetia and once again urges Tbilisi to use common sense and not to let the situation in this district reach a dangerous point. They should immediately return the illegal confiscated military property, punish the culprits, disband all the posts deployed in the conflict zone without the consent of the mixed control commission and return to the negotiating table.