MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - The fate of Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia under international agreements cannot be decided unilaterally by Georgia, a Russian lawmaker said Wednesday.
Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of the upper house of parliament's committee on the former Soviet Union, said, "Georgia may not make unilateral decisions on the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers as their stay in the conflict zones has been sanctioned by UN resolutions in Abkhazia's case and resolutions [made] by the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] in the case of South Ossetia."
"They are internationally recognized, legitimate forces. They are based on agreements that take into account the interests of both conflicting sides, so severing these relations unilaterally would simply mean going against the established norms of international law," the legislator said.
Kokoshin said he hoped Georgia's government would have enough common sense not to go as far as expelling the Russian peacekeepers, especially since they seemed to be the only force capable of keeping the situation under control.
The MP made the comments in view of the Georgian parliament's February 15 vote on the expulsion of Russian peacekeeping forces from South Ossetia. A similar resolution on Abkhazia is expected to be put to vote sometime this spring.
Georgia's pro-Western government, determined to bring the breakaway provinces back into the fold, has repeatedly accused Russia of siding with separatists and failing to help resolve the conflict. Relations between the two countries were further strained last week after Georgian police tried to impound a Russian peacekeepers' truck that had been involved in a traffic accident near South Ossetia.
