Good afternoon, esteemed colleagues,

I would like to say a few words about the development of the situation surrounding South Ossetia.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in Moscow yesterday, who together with President Dmitry Medvedev held keen and constructive discussions of the steps that need to be undertaken to normalize the situation after the President of the Russian Federation had decided to end the operation to force the Georgian side to peace, which had grossly violated all its commitments and international law.

The talks have resulted, as you know, in agreeing the principles which the Russian and French presidents support and call on the parties in conflict to undersign these principles.  This is a Russian-French initiative addressed to the parties, which parties, as you know, are Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  The chief thing is the principle which envisages renunciation of the use of force.  Like a number of other principles, it has to be transformed into a legally binding document, and this will be the task in further work with Tbilisi, Tskhinval and Sukhum.

The most important element as of now is the humanitarian aspect of the situation.  The parties are being urged to secure unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid, and humanitarian corridors must be opened for this purpose.  Now this work is being conducted on the ground.  I hope that those in need of aid will quickly feel an improvement of the situation.

A principled moment from the viewpoint of a nonrepetition of the tragedy is the principle which states the necessity of returning all Georgian armed forces to their places of permanent deployment; that is to the barracks.  Having undersigned this principle, and I understand President Sarkozy received the Georgian signature under this commitment yesterday, the Georgian side has to fulfill, without delay, this key provision which will make it possible to remove all fears of relapses.

As to the armed forces of the Russian Federation that were sent into South Ossetia to reinforce our peacekeeping force, they will, as Georgian troops retreat to the barracks, be withdrawn to the territory of the Russian Federation.  Our peacekeepers will remain in South Ossetia; they will continue to be guided by their mandate.  This mandate is defined in the relevant agreements, and they will continue to fulfill it.  The mandate, as you know, was flouted by the Georgian side on the night of August 7-8, but the peacekeeping mission of Russia has been fulfilled and we have put the situation back in a legal-field.  There is provision for the appearance of various international mechanisms, the talk being primarily about observers.  In South Ossetia there is already the OSCE mission, it has been working there for many years.  Together with the parties, together with the OSCE and our other partners we will look how this mission in the new conditions can additionally be provided with the authority enabling it to efficiently monitor the nonrepetition of aggressive proclivities of the Georgian leadership.

The lessons that have been drawn from this tragedy compel us to think of the need for additional security measures, and the agreed principles envisage that the Russian peacekeeping force will take such additional security measures.  Our peacekeepers on the ground will have to decide what these measures are, based on the experience of communication with the Georgian side and based on what happened.  These additional security measures and precautions are simply indispensable.

As to Abkhazia, international UN observers also operate there, apart from our peacekeepers.  Both in Ossetia and in Abkhazia the role of international observers will have to be accentuated so that it is more focused on tracking possible provocations by Georgia.

An important point is the last principle, which presupposes starting discussion of ensuring lasting security for Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Several different wordings of this point were discussed.  The version which was discussed in Moscow presupposed also the inclusion of a direct reference to discussion of the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia there.  The final version, which President Sarkozy got agreement on and obliged Tbilisi to support, does not directly mention the question of status, but the phrases that it is necessary to start an international discussion of ways to ensure the lasting and sustainable security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia mean, of course, that to solve these questions outside the context is impossible.  They must be examined precisely in terms of status, with regard for the prevailing objective situation and with regard for the administrative system existing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  The sixth principle very clearly reflects the necessity of a new approach to the issues of ensuring security.

Speaking of Abkhazia, I will say that the fact has satisfied us that the situation in the Kodori Valley, which for a long time because of the actions of the Georgian side was in noncompliance with its obligations under the Moscow Agreements, has been brought into conformity with the existing accords.  So that the site is cleared of the accretions connected with the multiple violations of its obligations by Tbilisi.  And now I think it will be possible to return to strict observance of the accords that were there, and on their basis, to search for additional ways of ensuring stability and the security of the people who live in this region.  An important first step has been taken, and now it is necessary to ensure that these principles are supported by the South Ossetians and the Abkhaz.  There will have to be recorded in a legally binding document the whole array of things that are set out in the principles.  We will be working at this.

I want to say one more thing.  Of course, all sensible people welcome this development of events.  The accords that were reached in Moscow and submitted for consideration by the parties are a very important and positive step; we would once again like to highly assess the role which President Sarkozy has played both as the leader of France and as the President of the European Union.  Overall, the world has a correct perception of what is happening.  From our contacts with foreign colleagues we feel that their ambassadors in Moscow in most cases objectively inform their capitals of the developments.  There is a correct understanding in the capitals, although not always this correct understanding is reflected in public statements.  That’s the way life goes, such things happen.  We cannot agree with the attempts – not those to choose some neutral tones, this is understandable – but with the attempts to distort the situation and turn everything upside down.  In this context I cannot pass over yet another statement of State Department official Matthew Bryza, who said the other day that Russia had carried out serious aggression on the territory of Georgia, and after the latest events, ceased to be a peacekeeper in Georgia.  Apparently he simply can’t calm down, because in the principles which we agreed with the President of France, there’s nothing of this kind; on the contrary, the role of Russia as a peacekeeper is stressed and confirmed there.  Strictly speaking, no one can question this role; it exists and will be conscientiously performed.  The operation to force Georgia to peace has been brought to a halt not because President Bush had demanded this, which thought Bryza is trying to pursue, but because the aims which our President had set before this operation have been achieved.

The Georgian leadership gave the orders that led to acts to genocide and developed into war crimes, and ethnic cleansings and this cannot remain unanswered.  As I have already mentioned, hundreds of our citizens who have suffered in South Ossetia are preparing the relevant complaints to international judicial instances and the Russian state will actively support them in order that justice may triumph.

Another urgent task is the reconstruction of Tskhinval, the restoration of the other destroyed South Ossetian villages, which the Georgian army razed to the ground.  Russia is allocating significant funds for these purposes, but I am convinced that the aggressor must also pay for the damage that he inflicted.

Question:  Mr. Minister, did the Sarkozy-Medvedev plan undergo any changes in Tbilisi?  If so, then how substantial those alterations are?  There was not a single mention of the territorial integrity of Georgia?  What do you think today’s reaction of heads of foreign ministries of EU countries will be to this?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  I have already mentioned the alterations that the plan underwent.  You know I cannot make any predictions as to what the reaction of heads of EU foreign ministries might be.  I know that the EU President, French President, Mr. Sarkozy, with the President of the EU Council, French Foreign Minister, Mr. Kouchner, worked out together with us the principles in question.  The item, which you bear in mind, states that it is necessary to start discussing ways to ensure the lasting security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  There are neither mentions of the territorial integrity of Georgia nor mentions of the direct status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia here.  But it is crystal clear to everyone, as was borne out during yesterday’s conversations with the French delegation, that to talk about ensuring the security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia without touching on status issues, in the present conditions when everybody just now witnessed the Georgian aggression against them, is simply impossible.

Question:  Could you answer a question in English for the BBC?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  No, you know, with us, it’s Mikhail Nikolayevich Saakashvili who talks in English.

Question:  Does the new wording of the document you refer to suit you?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  President Sarkozy had phoned President Medvedev before inserting this specification in the text, and this specification was accepted because essentially it changes nothing.

Question:  Yesterday at the press conference Sarkozy said the EU is ready to send its peacekeepers to South Ossetia.  Generally, is Moscow considering the option that these peacekeepers will appear in the zone of conflict?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  You know anyone may be ready for something.  Being ready is one thing, but constantly staying in the conflict zone is another matter as well as being the target of a barbarous attack when Georgian peacekeepers are firing at fellow Russian peacekeepers and when Georgian shells are raining down on residential neighborhoods.  I am not going to enumerate all these crimes.  International judicial instances will investigate this, I think, and then also our Prosecutor General’s Office, by order of the President, is actively concerned with this matter.  I have already said that there won’t be any fundamental change in questions of peacekeeping on the territory of South Ossetia.  The only change relates to the fact that the Georgian peacekeepers that were part of the peacekeeping contingent, but turned out to be simply traitors and cowards and began firing at their fellow soldiers, of course, will never appear in South Ossetia as peacekeeping force members.  The international aspect of peacekeeping may be strengthened, because it is already present – there is the UN Observer Mission in Abkhazia and there is the OSCE Mission in South Ossetia.  They can be reinforced and given new functions and probably it is necessary to give them new functions because monitoring the actions which Georgia will be undertaking is extremely important in order to avert a new act of aggression.

Question:  The US State Department yesterday demanded a complete withdrawal of Russian forces, including the peacekeeping troops, and was threatening Russia with isolation – your comment.

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  I won’t even comment.

Question:  How will you comment on such serious support of Georgia, particularly from Eastern European countries and Ukraine?  Are representatives from any countries involved in these military actions on Georgia’s side?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  We have data that foreign citizens were present, I don’t know whether in the combat ranks, but on the side of the Georgian army, anyway.  Such facts are there.

As to the support of the Georgian president from a number of Eastern European countries, you’ve probably all seen the celebrations in Tbilisi on the occasion of the failure of the aggressive adventure.  Everyone’s got their own way of celebrating events in the life of their own country and in their own lives.