Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili said on February 10 that the current situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone “is not alarming.”

“But recent developments in relations with Russia make us more cautious, more watchful than before,” Okruashvili said at a news conference.
 
He denied statements made by the Russian Foreign Ministry over the deployment of 250 Georgian servicemen in the South Ossetian conflict zone as “disinformation.”

But he said that Georgia is currently authorized to deploy 250 servicemen in the conflict zone, “because we have not filled our quota” in the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF). Each side – Georgia, Russia and Ossetia – is authorized to have 500 peacekeepers in the conflict zone.