The international community is watching developments in the South Ossetian conflict zone with “mounting concern” and expects the sides “to do their utmost to de-escalate tension,” Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign minister, who holds the OSCE’s rotating chairmanship, said in a statement on August 2.
Six people were killed and about 22 injured as a result of intense shooting in the conflict zone late on August 1 and overnight on August 2.
“We still do not know all the details of what happened, but clearly a number of people have been killed and wounded,” Stubb said. “I deplore and condemn this needless violence, especially against civilian targets.”
The OSCE chairman-in-office has also reiterated his invitation to the sides to engage in dialogue and consultations.
The conflicting sides were offered last month a meeting in Helsinki. The South Ossetian side, however, insisted on talks only in frames of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission – a format which has been rejected by Tbilisi.