Use of term “occupied” in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia by U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is “groundless”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on July 7.

During her visit to Tbilisi on July 5, Clinton said for number of times that the United States was calling on Russia for “ending the occupation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“In the international law, occupation means a temporary presence of troops of one state on the territory of the other state under conditions of war between them. At the same time, the occupied territory is ruled by the military command of the occupying state. Thus, the use of a term ‘occupied’ by Secretary of State Clinton in this context is groundless,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It also said that there “is not a single Russian serviceman on the territory of Georgia” and that the Russian troops were deployed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, “which separated from Georgia as a result of aggression unleashed by Saakashvili’s regime.” It also said that the both regions “have democratically formed” executive and legislative governments.

“We expect that our partners will take into consideration this objective reality in their public and practical activities,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.