Georgia to deal with rebellious autonomy alone?

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania rejected any attempts to interfere with the Georgian-South Ossetian relations from the outside.

"It's nobody's business what military units Georgia will deploy to the Tskhinvali region (in this way Tbilisi officially names the de jure liquidated South Ossetian autonomy). This is Georgian territory, and it is up to us to decide whether to bring into the makeup of our peacekeepers the military who were trained in the framework of the American Train and Equip program or not," Zhvania said at a government session on Wednesday.

"Neither the U.S., nor Russia can dictate to us in what way to use our military trained under the Georgian-American program," the premier said while commenting on statements of the Russian foreign ministry on the situation.

The Georgian premier expressed discontent with the Georgian foreign ministry's activities. "The Georgian foreign ministry should in time react to such situations and give explanations. It's desirable that it is in this way in future," Zhvania said.

Special forces and Georgian interior ministry troops units were deployed to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone on May 31. Tbilisi explained this operation by the tasks of preventing smuggling through South Ossetia to other Georgian regions that allegedly took place.

The Russian foreign ministry made three statements on Tuesday in regard to the situation in the area of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, and, in particular, called on Georgian authorities to realize the danger of provocations in that region.

"The Russian side regrets to note that despite official Tbilisi's statements, provocation activities initiated by Georgian authorities continue," says a statement of the Russian foreign ministry information and press department.

The Russian foreign ministry said the activities of Georgian authorities are out of line with international agreements and further increase the tension in South Ossetia.

"Such actions can result in very grave and unpredictable consequences. Tbilisi must be aware of the seriousness of the current situation, fraught with an outburst of violence and bloodshed, the responsibility for which will lie with the Georgian side," stresses the statement.

The Georgian president's wife, ethnic Dutch Sandra Roelofs and a delegation of officials and journalists accompanying her visited yesterday evening the South Ossetian village of Tamarasheni, and were blocked by South Ossetian special forces on the outskirts of Tskhinvali, the capital of the unrecognized republic. After that the first lady flew on board a helicopter to Tbilisi. Tskhinvali authorities interpreted the sudden visit by the Georgian president's spouse as a blunt provocation.