Georgian MFA: Moscow’s Comments Cause Bewilderment

The Georgian Foreign Ministry expressed “sincere bewilderment” at the December 9 statement by Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Mikheil Kaminin, who said that Russia’s support of a statement on Georgia adopted by the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana on December 6 does not mean that Moscow has changed its position over South Ossetia or, in particular, towards Tbilisi’s peace plan.

“Given this statement, we can conclude that the Russian delegation in Ljubljana was not sincere, or, what seems more likely, Mr. Kaminin [Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson] was not fully informed about the constructive and business-like ambiance and the details of the negotiations in Ljubljana,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

After making particular remarks towards Tbilisi’s peace plan, the Russian side supported the statement on Georgia, which reads: “We welcome the steps taken by the Georgian side to address the peaceful resolution of the conflict and believe that the recent proposals, in particular the Peace Plan built upon the initiatives of the President of Georgia presented at the 59th United Nations General Assembly [in September, 2004] and supported by the sides, will serve as a basis for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

The Russian side claims that the Action Plan voiced by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli in October does not coincide with the ‘three-stage’ peace plan voiced by President Saakashvili in September, 2004.

In a statement issued on December 9 the Georgian Foreign Ministry explains that “the peace plan of the Georgian side is based on the Peaceful Initiative, voiced by the President of Georgia at the 59th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2004 and represents a detailed account of the principles set forth in this initiative.”

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