Yelena Panina, a deputy of the “United Russia“ faction, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, commenting on the “Duma TV“ information that Georgian police erected a checkpoint on the territory of South Ossetia near the village of Tsnelis, said that South Ossetia had always been an independent state, and provocations from Tbilisi should be treated calmly.
“There is no need to talk about some kind of peaceful return of South Ossetia to Georgia, especially after the tragic events of 2008,” said Elena Panina.
The parliamentarian urged to take the provocations of Tbilisi calmly, emphasizing that the main thing is to avoid the armed invasion of Georgian troops into the territory of South Ossetia. She expressed hope that Georgia had learned the lesson of 2008 and that this would not happen again.
South Ossetia accused Georgia of provocation after the Georgian police put up a checkpoint on the territory of South Ossetia near the village of Tsnelis and began to build a road to it. The Ossetian side is trying to contact Georgia through a hotline organized as part of the Geneva discussions, but so far to no avail.
On August 26, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili announced that Tbilisi would never reconcile with the loss of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and expressed hope that the return of these territories would occur during her leadership of the country. The Georgian leader has also reminded that Georgia and the Russian Federation have not diplomatic relations since 2008.
On the night of August 8, 2008, Georgian armed forces attacked South Ossetia. Russia defended its peacekeepers and residents of the Republic, many of which by that time had accepted the citizenship of the Russian Federation.
