The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported on the launch on 15 July of large-scale military exercises - Kavkaz-2008 in the North Caucasus, in the immediate vicinity of the Georgian state border, involving approximately 8000 servicemen and 700 pieces of military hardware. The military exercises will also involve units of the Pskov and Novorossisk divisions of air landing troops.

‘Assessment of a joint response of military administrations against the background of a terrorist threat in the south of Russia’ is declared to be the main goal of the exercises conducted in the North Caucasus.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, ‘special peace enforcement operations’ in the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflict zones will also be worked out during the exercises, while Commander of North Caucasian Military District S. Makarov is quoted as saying that ‘his troops are ready to assist peacekeepers’.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia declares that the aforesaid statements can be viewed as a continuation of the aggressive policy the Russian Federation has been pursuing against Georgia in the recent period.  Not a single document on conflict resolution authorizes Russian armed forces to carry out any kind of activity on the territory of Georgia. Hence, the aforesaid statements by the Russian Defence Ministry and top military officials can be considered otherwise, rather than a military intervention and a threat of aggression directed against the sovereign state. 

The Russian Federation’s aggressive policy against Georgia poses a threat to peace and stability in the Caucasus region as a whole. The Russian side should be well aware that against such background of developments, successively higher levels of tension in Chechnia, Ingushetia, Dagestan and  Kabardino-Balkaria and numerous armed clashes between local combatants and Russian law enforcement agencies may slide into increasing instability that, in our belief, must be far from serving the interests of the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia urges the Russian side in the strongest terms to refrain from irresponsible statements and stop its aggressive policy against Georgia.

Tbilisi, 16 July 2008