Moscow, Tbilisi in War of Words over South Ossetia

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania slammed a statement issued on June 1 by the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning the situation in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and ordered the Georgian Foreign Ministry to respond to it with a “strict statement.”

“The stance of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement is inadmissible. The issue concerns the territory of Georgia and nobody can prevent the Georgian authorities from establishing order throughout the country,” Zurab Zhvania said at a government session on June 2.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued two strongly-worded statements on May 31 and on June 1 accusing Tbilisi of escalating tensions in South Ossetia.