Comment of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia Murat Dzhioev to IA "Res" concerning the statement of Manana Manjgaladze -press speaker of the President of Georgia,- that re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia will take place only after closure of the "illegally opened, so-called embassies" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
- The state of the Russian-Georgian relations is, of course, the case of two countries, and I would not have allowed myself to comment on anything in this field, if the official representative of the Georgian authorities did not intervene in the relations between the sovereign states - Russia and South Ossetia. Really, the diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia have been severed after the brutal armed aggression of Georgia against South Ossetia in August 2008, the victims of which became innocent people of South Ossetia,- most of them the Russian citizens and Russian peacekeepers. After Russia had enforced the aggressor to peace, the "offended" Georgia severed diplomatic relations with it. Russia after the recognition of South Ossetia has established diplomatic relations with it and in the capitals - Moscow and Tskhinval –have been functioning the embassies, whose activity is based on legislation of the two states, in accordance with the bilateral agreements and the international law, in particular, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. So, the above mentioned Georgian statement - is illegitimate interference in the affairs of other states, and re-establishment of relations between Russia and Georgia cannot be linked to functioning of the Russian Embassy in the Republic of South Ossetia.
But the point is still that, though, according to the report of the EU independent commission on assessment of the events of August 2008, Georgia was declared responsible for aggression against South Ossetia (and this opinion is shared by many international experts), Georgian authorities has not recognized their responsibility and instead of repenting and making amends, they present claims and make terms. Unfortunately, they are supported by some Western countries in this matter. This position of the Georgian authorities and their patrons prevent progress in the Geneva discussions on security in Transcaucasia.
