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| Controversy persists over the Tkviavi checkpoint, which lies less than 10 km away from Tskhinvalil. |
After the allegations by Georgian authorities that a convoy of trucks carrying weapons entered the breakaway South Ossetia, the OSCE Mission to Georgia monitored the situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone on June 12 and “found no evidence” of any military vehicles in the Tskhinvali area.
He also called for Russia to recognize South Ossetia’s independence and admit it into the Russian Federation.
The de facto South Ossetian President also denied reports made by Georgian officials regarding the delivering of extra weapons to South Ossetia from Russia.
“No weapons or Russian units have entered the territory of South Ossetia. It was humanitarian freight,” Kokoev said.
He accused the Georgian authorities of deliberately destabilizing the situation in the breakaway region. Kokoev described Tbilisi’s humanitarian initiatives in South Ossetia, which include the distribution of agricultural fertilizers and medicines among the local population of the breakaway region, as “a destabilization attempt.”
“Under the pretext of these humanitarian initiatives, officials from Tbilisi are calling for the local population to topple the legally elected President of South Ossetia,” Eduard Kokoev said.
The recent standoff in the conflict zone is a continuation of tensions, which escalated on May 31 when Georgian authorities sent extra units of internal troops into the Tkviavi checkpoint, which lies less than 10 km away from Tskhinvali, under the pretext of fighting smuggling.
The majority of thes extra troops were pulled out on the same day, according to the Georgian officials; however Moscow and Tskhinvali keep insisting on further withdrawal of Georgian troops.