It is with great alarm that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia follows the massive propaganda adopted recently by the Russian mass media and the dynamic of concrete actions with regard to Tskhinvali district/South Ossetia. What takes place is a deliberate intensification of already traditional unilateral actions by the Russian high-ranking officials and governmental structures aiming, rather than facilitating a full-scale settlement of the conflict, at interfering in the grossest style in the internal affairs of the country, through infringement of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, with the use of rhetoric and concrete steps by the country having already taken on the role of a conflicting side, in total disregard for the universally recognized norms and principles of international law.

One of the clearest confirmation of the foregoing are steps taken unceremoniously by the Russian state structures, which aim at incorporating Tskhinvali district/South Ossetia into the uniform information space of the Russian Federation. A case in point is another uncoordinated-with-the-Georgian-side visit to the region led by deputy director-general Sergey Trubitsin of the federal state unitary enterprise - Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Network.  Turbitsin after this visit stated that ‘the decision that South Ossetia should be incorporated into Russia’s uniform information space has become a reality’.

Against the background of intensive and wide-ranging military exercises and maneuvers taking place in the vicinity of the Georgian border, involving subunits of Army 58 of the North Caucasus military district, detachments of air forces and air defence troops and special purpose units, as well as Russian Defence Minister S. Ivanov’s direct statements that ‘we will not allow suppression of our peacekeeping forces and we should not forget that 90% of the South Ossetian population is made up of  Russian citizens` and the Russian side’s strong assertions that it is not a party to the conflict, are unpersuasive, to put it in the mildest possible terms, and totally ungrounded.   

On the face of it, hysterically sounding statements in the Russian mass media that the Georgian side is allegedly planning a military intervention in Tskhinvali district/South Ossetia, seem to take on an increasingly alarming character and point to quite the contrary, specifically, Russia is itself engaged in efforts to instigate hostilities and, in league with the Tskhinvali district separatist authorities, is heading for military confrontation. Such acts of the Russian side have the goal of preparing the soil for flaring up military confrontation and creating in the future some justification for showing different forms of ‘care’ for Russian citizens residing in the region.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia calls upon the Russian side to refrain from military rhetoric and actions targeted at further escalation of the situation in the region.   The Ministry urges the international community to spare no effort for relieving the tension and preventing any unfavourable development of events in the region. 

Tbilisi, July 14, 2006