MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is demanding that Georgia stop seizing ships in neutral waters and intends to request explanation from Tbilisi through Switzerland's mediation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
"We demand that Tbilisi stop illegal actions in neutral waters and we intend to request an explanation from the Georgian side through Swiss mediation," the ministry said.
Last month, Georgia seized the Panama-flagged BUKET tanker and its cargo as it was carrying gasoline and diesel fuel to Abkhazia from Turkey.
The Russian ministry said Georgian border guards told Turkish sailors that they represented Russia's military and arrested the tanker. Criminal proceedings against the crew were launched, despite that the documents were in good order.
The captain was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Reuters on Friday quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying Georgia will release the captain if an $18,000 fine is paid.
Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said on Wednesday that Abkhazia was ready to resort to force as President Sergei Bagapsh had given the order "to open fire on Georgian ships if they continue their acts of piracy."
In response, Georgia said it would continue to seize ships that violate the borders of what it calls occupied territories.
Russia and Georgia were involved in a five-day war last August after Tbilisi launched a military offensive on another former republic, South Ossetia.
On August 26, both republics celebrated the first anniversary of Russia's recognition of their independence. So far the only other country to have recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia is Nicaragua.
