MOSCOW, February 17 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia believes that the peacekeepers stationed in the zone of a conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia should shift their focus from military to economic issues, the country's minister for conflict settlement said Friday.
"We do not understand why an emphasis has been placed on the military aspect of the peacekeeping process," Georgy Khaindrava told a news conference. "We believe that economic rehabilitation must be the main focus, as it will help build confidence and promote ties between people."
Khaindrava accused Russia and South Ossetia, which along with another breakaway region, Abkhazia, declared independence from Georgia in 1992 after bloody conflicts following the collapse of the Soviet Union, of being too preoccupied with the military side of the conflict.
He described South Ossetia as a belligerent enclave on Georgian territory, accusing it of conducting as many as 18 military exercises involving the Russian military.
Khaindrava said the peacekeeping mission must remain within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). "All OSCE member-countries, at least those interested, have the right to participate in the mission," he said.
Khaindrava arrived in Moscow to discuss the agenda of a meeting of the Joint Control Commission for the Georgian-Ossetian settlement due to take place in Vienna February 20-21.
Georgia's newly approved parliamentary resolution on Russian peacekeepers stationed in the conflict zone is expected to affect the agenda.
On Wednesday, the Georgian parliament criticized the Russian peacekeepers as ineffective and adopted a resolution recommending that the government review the current trilateral peacekeeping format in the region, laid down in the 1992 Sochi agreement, and replace Russian peacekeepers with an international contingent. Georgian and Ossetian troops are also part of the current contingent.
Russia's Foreign Ministry and senior military officials dismissed the criticism, highlighting Russian soldiers' role in defusing the conflict in the 1990s, and in turn, accusing the Georgian troops of being unpredictable.
Russia said a possible withdrawal would have to be approved by largely pro-Russian South Ossetia, many of whose residents hold Russian citizenship, and declared it would continue peacekeeping work in the region in line with its international commitments.
