Georgian Minister In Moscow To 'Clarify' Peacekeepers' Vote

Minister Giorgi Khaindrava (right) meets with ambassadors from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, and the OSCE in Tbilisi on 14 February (InterPressNews) 16 February 2006 -- Georgian Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava had talks with officials in Moscow today, one day after Georgian lawmakers called for the pullout of Russian peacekeepers from Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

Khaindrava met with officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On 15 February, the Georgian parliament passed a nonbinding resolution recommending that the government seek the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers and revise a 1992 Georgian-Russian agreement ending the 18-month war between Tbilisi and South Ossetia.

Khaindrava said the government would have to respect the resolution.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said today's talks were aimed at clarifying the Georgian government's position.

The chief of the Russian military's General Staff, Yury Baluyevsky, today warned that civil war could break out again if Russian peacekeepers left.

Georgia accuses Russian peacekeepers of siding with South Ossetia.

(AP, ITAR-TASS)