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South Ossetia urges Georgia to sign non-aggression pact

South Ossetian Foreign Ministry: "Georgia positions itself as a victim of mythical Russian aggression and lays claim to the lands of South Ossetia and Abkhazia"
Photo ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Mukagov
Photo ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Mukagov

TSKHINVAL, August 8 (Itar-Tass) - Republic of South Ossetia has urged Georgia to sign an agreement on the non-use of force.

“Georgia should drop attempts at misleading the world community by loose interpretations of facts and juggling with them, sign a treaty on non-use of force and start the delimitation and demarcation of the state border between South Ossetia and Georgia,” South Ossetia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Tskhinval, which is holding memorable events timed for the fifth anniversary of the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia.

The South Ossetian Foreign Ministry believes “this would make it possible to ease tensions in the border territories and create prerequisites for building trust between the two countries.”

Tskhinval says that although in August 2008 it signed the Medvedev-Sarkozy settlement plan, Georgia has done nothing to comply with the assumed commitments.

“On a variety of excuses the Georgian side systematically upsets the Geneva discussions and shirks the conclusion of legally binding agreements to renounce the use of force towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgia continues to present its aggression against South Ossetia as a war between Russia and Georgia,” the South Ossetian Foreign Ministry said, adding that the Tagliavini commission had thoroughly studied all circumstances of the events of August 2008 to arrive at the conclusion that it was Georgia that attacked South Ossetia.

“South Ossetia was forced to use its right to self-defense and to ask Russia as a guarantor under the Sochi agreement of 1992 for assistance. In that situation the Russian leadership made a decision to take measures to coerce Georgia to peace. That decision stemmed not just from international liabilities, but from noble ethical principles. The Russian Federation recognized the state independence of the Republic of South Ossetia as the sole possible step to ensure the security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the South Ossetian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Tskhinval is certain that “the course of the new Georgian authorities differs little from the policies of their predecessors.”

“Georgia positions itself as a victim of mythical Russian aggression and lays claim to the lands of South Ossetia and Abkhazia again and again,” the South Ossetian Foreign Ministry’s statement runs.