Georgian authorities reacted to Russia’s announcement that it will absorb members of South Ossetia’s armed forces into the Russian army, saying any agreement between Russia and representatives from South Ossetia is illegitimate.
“Not only we, but the international community, does not recognize the agreement either. Russia should fulfill the responsibilities it took under the ceasefire agreement signed in 2008,” said Georgian Foreign Minister Mikhail Janelidze.
On Tuesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave the green light to move forward with plans to incorporate South Ossetia’s armed forces into the Russian army, instructing his deputies to draft an agreement with Ossetian representatives. Putin is expected to take up the issue directly with South Ossetia’s political leader Leonid Tibilov in the coming days, according to reports from the Kremlin.
The 2008 war, considered by some to be the first European war in the 21st century, saw Russian and Georgian forces pitted against one another over South Ossetia and another self-proclaimed breakaway region, Abkhazia, when Georgia’s military operation to restore control over South Ossetia encountered an armed intervention by Russia. The clashes ended in a ceasefire agreement, negotiated by France, in August of the same year.
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