National Security Council to Discuss CIS Peacekeepers’ Issue

(Tbilisi. January 11. Civil Georgia) – Georgian National Security Council is to be held on January 11. It is most likely that the issue of the Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be discussed.

Russian peacekeepers’ mandate expired on December 31. They lack the legal status for carrying out their duties at the moment.

On January 4, CIS executive secretary Yuri Yarov stated after the meeting with President Shevardnadze, that Georgian National Security Council will take a decision whether to prolong peacekeepers’ mandate or not.

It is most likely that President Shevardnadze together with the National Security Council will prolong Russian peacekeeping troops’ mandate, despite the Parliaments resolution adopted in October, demanding peacekeepers withdrawal.

President Shevardnadze stated on November 30 after the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimer Putin that he is not for hastening of the peacekeepers’ pull out.

Russian peacekeeping forces are deployed across the border of Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia since mid-1994.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian)