The U.S. warned Georgia on February 9 demand that the Russian peacekeeping troops withdraw from the South Ossetian conflict zone “without anything in their place may be destabilizing.” “This [full complement of forces] should be done in strict coordination with existing mechanisms, in full transparency, and in accordance with previous agreements,” Ambassador Finley stated. These “existing mechanisms” refers to the quadripartite - Georgia, South Ossetia, Russia and North Ossetia - negotiating body, the Joint Control Commission (JCC). Tbilisi has intensified its efforts recently to change this, as Georgian officials put it, “unfair” arrangement, but have failed so far because of resistance from Russia. Senor MP from the ruling National Movement party Kote Gabashvili, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, says that the statement by the U.S. Ambassador was “ordinary diplomatic advice from a friend.” “We should not overestimate the importance of this statement by the United States,” MP Gabashvili told Civil Georgia on February 9. He said that the U.S. called for caution while making a decision on the peacekeepers and Georgia is following this advice. “We did not demand the immediate withdrawal of the peacekeepers four months ago - when the Parliament passed the resolution on this issue - because we were very cautious regarding this issue. We want to thoroughly explain to the world why their presence [the Russian peacekeepers] in the conflict zone is not productive – this hampers the implementation of the peace plan which has been supported by the OSCE, including at the today’s session [of the OSCE Permanent Council],” he said. He reiterated that on February 13 the parliamentary committees for foreign relations and defense and security will discuss the performance of the Russian peacekeepers in the South Ossetian conflict zone, while on February 15 the Parliament will adopt "a relevant decision." Local political observers say that the position taken by the U.S. seems to be somewhat of a surprise for official Tbilisi, which is now in a difficult situation, as refusal to demand the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers will be an extremely unpopular step. Observers say that if the Parliament refuses to vote for a withdrawal of the peacekeepers. this action will be met with a negative public response, especially against the background of numerous recent statements made by Georgian senior officials against the Russian troops. |
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