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Russia urges Georgia not to politicize visas for peacekeepers

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MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's first deputy interior minister said Friday the issue of Georgian visas for Russian peacekeepers should not be politicized.

Andrei Denisov said Russian peacekeepers should be allowed to enter Georgia without visas, and that "the Georgian side should observe all the existing agreements."

Russia has had peacekeepers in the South Ossetian conflict zone in northern Georgia since the early 1990s, and the peacekeepers are rotated once in six months. The latest rotation was scheduled for May 23, but has been put off until May 29.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said earlier that rotation of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway region could be postponed again over contentious border checkpoints and unresolved visa issues.

Russian troops were deployed in the region together with Georgian and Ossetian soldiers to oversee ceasefire agreements after bloody conflicts in the early 1990s.

Under new Georgian regulations, Russian citizens, including peacekeepers deployed in conflict zones, have been required to have valid visas since mid-February.

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