Russia Denies Siding with South Ossetian Side

In a response to the Georgian President’s criticism towards the Russian peacekeeping troops in the South Ossetian conflict zone, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on July 12 that the Russian peacekeepers always “act in accordance with their mandate.”
 
“Russian peacekeepers do not side with either Georgians or Ossetians, they simply act in accordance with their mandate signed by the three sides [Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian],” the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quotes Sergei Ivanov as saying at a news briefing in London. 
 
Earlier today President Saakashvili accused the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone of supporting “South Ossetian separatists.” He added that the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping troops “needs to be revised.”