#12 - JRL 2008-149 - JRL Home
Leaders of Abkhazia, S.Ossetia sign Georgia peace plan
MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - The leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
signed on Thursday a peace plan to resolve their conflict with Georgia at a
meeting in Moscow with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The peace plan was drawn up Tuesday during a meeting between Medvedev and his
French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. Georgia has also accepted the plan.
It bans the use of force and any military action, and envisages free access
to humanitarian aid. Under the agreement, Georgian Armed Forces should return to
their bases, and Russian Armed Forces should pull back to their positions prior
to combat.
Medvedev also told his South Ossetian and Abkhazian counterparts, Eduard
Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh, respectively, that it would be necessary to draft a
legally-binding comprehensive ceasefire deal that should include guarantees from
Russia, the EU and the OSCE.
Medvedev assured the two separatist leaders that Russia's stance on the two
Georgian breakaway republics remained unchanged and that Moscow would support
any decision made by the people of the rebel regions.
"I want you to know and tell the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that
Russia's position remains unchanged," Medvedev said. "We will support any
decision made by the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in line with the UN
Charter, the 1966 international conventions, and the Helsinki Final Act of the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe," he said.
South Ossetia's Kokoity said the United States and Europe were responsible
for the "genocide" in his nation.
"Georgia did not act on its own - most European countries, and the United
States, are to blame for the genocide against the South Ossetian people,"
Kokoity said.
Georgia attacked the rebel province early on August 8 and later in the day
Russia moved troops in to support its peacekeepers and force the Georgians out.
South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, was mostly destroyed. Around 1,600
civilians and 18 peacekeepers were killed.
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