Visiting U.S. Senator Richard Lugar said in Tbilisi on August 22 that the United States “agrees with people of Georgia there should not be Russian peacekeepers” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“I think the peacekeeping situation is one that really has to be assumed by the people of Georgia; we’ll not be in favor of having Russians there …. the diplomacy may lead to other more neutral and friendly parties providing peacekeeping in that situation,” Senator Lugar said at a news conference after talks with PM Nogaideli.

“In South Ossetia we have tried to work with the OSCE, with other diplomats, to bring about finally a conclusion to that unhappy chapter and to bring about the territorial integrity of Georgia. In Abkhazia we support the return of refugees of Georgia to there homes, to a normal state there in that country. We’ve worked, we believe constructively, with Georgians on potential diplomatic solutions even though these have not been particularly successful so far. But we are patient as have been Georgians and look forward to better results,” Senator Lugar said.