Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze focused on the situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone while addressing the Summit of the Parliament Speakers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on February 10 in Kiev and called for a prompt change of the existing peacekeeping operation through involvement of other states within it.
 
“I call on the [Georgian] government to start active work to replace the Russian peacekeepers with a more effective [arrangement]. Naturally, we will be glad if our Ukrainian friends or other states participate in [this arrangement],” Burjanadze said.
 
She noted that official Tbilisi does not rule-out the presence of Russian servicemen in this international mandate.
 
“However, the participation of only Russian peacekeepers in this [conflict] zone is absolutely inadmissible for us, because many facts demonstrate that serious circles in Russia are not mediators, but a party to this conflict,” she added.

Later on the same day Burjanadze said in an interview with Rustavi 2 television that Russia makes no secret that “they think a scenario of war is quite possible if the Russian peacekeepers leave the conflict zone.”

“But we - the Georgian Parliament and Government - should do our best to avoid and prevent any kind of provocation,” Burjanadze said.