MOSCOW. July 19 (Interfax) - Russia's envoy to NATO has claimed that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is seeking to use armed force to bring the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia back under Georgian sovereignty and that he is trying to secure the support of NATO in achieving that goal.
"In my view, all the problems [in Georgia's conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia] stem not only from the aggressive rhetoric, but also from the aggressive plans of Mr. Saakashvili, who simultaneously wants to draw NATO into somebody else's headache, who wants to secure NATO support for the use of armed force to resolve the conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Dmitry Rogozin told Russian television channel Vesti 24.
"Strange as it is, Mr. Saakashvili still hasn't abandoned his plans to solve his territorial problem in a military way without suspecting or realizing that in actual fact there can be no military solutions to ethnic conflicts, least of all in the Caucasus," Rogozin said.
"And this is happening despite the fact that NATO chiefs are demanding that Georgia show at least some form of calm. Because how can they draw Georgia into NATO if there are two smoldering wars in Georgia itself?" he said.
But Russia, the envoy said, would make sure there is no war in Abkhazia or South Ossetia. He said 90% of the two regions' population are Russian citizens.
"Both the Russian peacekeepers and Russian foreign policy in the Caucasus are the only guarantee that there would be no war there," Rogozin said.
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Story Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English
