Statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1207-18-08-2008

In connection with the press statement released by the French side following the telephone conversation of President Nicolas Sarkozy with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on August 17 it appears necessary to make certain points more precise.

The document generalizing the six principles for resolving the conflicts is the joint initiative of Medvedev and Sarkozy, which was put forward at the end of their meeting in Moscow on August 12. This document was addressed to the parties in conflict, which are Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The South Ossetian and Abkhaz presidents have signed it without any reservations, whereas Mikhail Saakashvili affixed his signature only to a prepared text and continues to say that, even in this form, the document’s provisions do not fully suit him. The President of Russia has affixed his signature to the full text of the document as one of the mediators – together with the President of France, who is the President of the European Union. As far as we know, the OSCE mediators have not signed this document yet.

Against the background of this convoluted situation regarding the document designed to become the basis for settlement, Russia together with France is actively seeking to get a UN Security Council resolution adopted which would fully confirm the accord reached in Moscow on August 12. This work has encountered the resistance of the US and UK, which are trying to retroactively distort the content of this accord and to present matters so as if the aggressive actions unleashed by Georgia against South Ossetia on August 8 in no way changed the situation in the region and ignore the acute need to begin a serious consideration of the issue of status for South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Despite all these games, the Russian side, as Dmitry Medvedev stressed in the telephone conversation with Nicolas Sarkozy, is starting to fulfill its commitments. On August 18, withdrawal of Russian armed forces units sent into Georgia to reinforce the Russian peacekeepers in the face of the Georgian aggression began. Dmitry Medvedev also pointed out that there is still no confirmation of the full return of Georgian troops to their places of permanent deployment, which is one of the first measures envisaged by the Moscow accord. The pace of our further steps will depend on how conscientiously Georgia complies with what is required of it. Simultaneously with the withdrawal of the aforesaid Russian units the Russian peacekeepers are determining the security zone in accordance with item 5 of the principles approved by Medvedev and Sarkozy.

The Russian side supports the deployment of a considerable number of additional OSCE observers in the security zone and, moreover, considers that deployment extremely important in view of the necessity to establish impartial monitoring of actions by the Georgian side, which continues undertaking provocative actions in violation of the Moscow principles.

The contribution of the international community to stabilizing the situation and to creating the conditions which would preclude a repetition of military adventures of the Georgian leadership must also consist in opening a discussion on ways to assure the security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as provided by item 6 of the Moscow accord. It is clear however that to ensure reliable security for the two republics is impossible without a solution of the question of their status which would enable the South Ossetian and Abkhaz peoples to look calmly to their future. The Russian side highly appreciates the role of President Sarkozy in the efforts to normalize the situation in the region and reaffirms its determination together with France to seek full compliance with the Moscow accord by the parties.

As to the mention in the press statement released by the French side that the President of France “has warned President Medvedev of serious consequences” for relations between Russia and the European Union, this theme did not sound at all during the telephone conversation of the two presidents. The European Union was mentioned just once in Sarkozy’s remarks, who said that he would like to begin talks on Russia-EU relations and that “Russia and France should have no differences because of extremists.”

August 18, 2008