MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION INFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT _______________________________ 32/34 Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl., 119200, Moscow G-200; tel.: (499) 244 4119, fax: (499) 244 4112 e-mail: dip@mid.ru, web-address: www.mid.ru |
Question: How can you comment on the just-adopted decision of the OSCE Permanent Council to increase the number of military observers of the OSCE Mission in Georgia?
Answer: We welcome this decision, adopted with our active participation.
As is evident from the text of the decision, the OSCE has given full support to the six principles for resolving the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, applying also to the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, that were proposed by President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation and President Nicolas Sarkozy of the French Republic and signed by all the parties in conflicts.
The decision provides for a substantial (up to 100 men) increase in the number of OSCE military observers in Georgia. It is borne in mind that 20 of them will begin their work as soon as possible in the areas of Georgia adjoining South Ossetia. We presume that they will monitor the fulfillment by the Georgian authorities of all their obligations, including nonresumption of hostilities and the return of Georgian armed forces to their places of permanent deployment.
In the course of agreeing this Permanent Council decision the Russian side acted in a maximally constructive way and if the search for consensus got protracted, that occurred through no fault of ours.
Agreeing on the mandate of all the additional OSCE military observers in Georgia is to begin soon.