16:05, 16 December 2008

In Geneva, South Ossetia urges the West not to supply offensive arms to Georgia

The delegation of South Ossetia has arrived to Geneva to take part in consultations on Transcaucasia to be held on December 17-18. South Ossetia plans to demand from the western powers not to equip Georgia with offensive arms and observe their obligations not to use of force in the conflict zone.

Murat Dzhioev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia who is heading the delegation said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "Tomorrow we plan to announce our proposals on ensuring safety of South Ossetia. We think that Georgia should take legally binding obligations not to use force and to keep no armed units in the border regions."

In Geneva, the issues of Perevi village and Akhalgori District will be touched on. "We think that tension is deliberately heated up around the village and the District. We also plan to consider these issues tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," Mr Dzhioev has added.

Earlier, he informed the "Caucasian Knot" that a sitting on opening an OSCE representative office in Tskhinvali will also take place in Geneva.

Author: Anastasia Kirilenko, CK correspondent