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BAKU: Zeyno Baran: Situation in South Ossetia has reached the limit

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  • BAKU: Zeyno Baran: Situation in South Ossetia has reached the limit

    Today.Az, Azerbaijan
    Aug 9 2008



    Zeyno Baran: "Situation in South Ossetia has reached the limit, when
    Saakashvili was not able to close eyes on the occupation of a part of
    his land"

    09 August 2008 [12:10] - Today.Az

    Day.Az interview with Zeyno Baran, director of the program on Eurasian
    policy of the Hudson Institute (US).

    - What do you think of the events, which occurred in Tskhinvali region
    of Georgia on Friday?

    - The situation in South Ossetia is quite serious. It is worsened by
    the intervention of Russian troops, which clashed with the Georgian
    militaries directly.

    - Do you think the actions of Russian servicemen in the conflict area
    in Georgia are really far from the peacekeeping?

    - I think, the groups, supported by Russia (I mean both South Ossetia
    and Abkhazia) continue to raise tensions. Decisions in Russia are
    taken not only by negotiators with US and EU on external political
    problems but also servicemen and security forces. The previous and
    current presidents of Russia Putin and Medvedev stated from the very
    beginning of their coming to power that they will prevent Georgia's
    NATO accession by all means.

    Any provocative actions have been expected primordially in these two
    separatist regions of Georgia for some unknown reason, while now the
    situation may get out of control, therefore, it is necessary for
    Russia to disavow its previous positions and come to the negotiation
    table with Georgia, NATO, EU and USA.

    - Is further military clash between Georgia and Russia possible?

    - Yes, unfortunately, there is now a serious threat of war.

    - There is an opinion that Saakashvili could not take such a critical
    step as initiative of release of the occupied lands by force, without
    White House approval...

    - This is a completely wrong opinion. As is known, the diversions in
    the conflict area continued through the past weeks and the United
    States called on Georgia not to react to these provocations and
    continue search of the peaceful way out of the situation. I would like
    to note that if not for the US intensive attempt to reconcile the
    parties, the events, we are witnessing now, would have occurred even
    earlier.

    - What do you think Georgian President should do to settle the
    established situation?

    - The situation has previously been kept under control, but after
    escalation of tensions, Saakashvili was already not able to close eyes
    on the fact of occupation of a part of his lands.

    There is a chance to come to mutual understanding with South Ossetian
    representatives. It is necessary for the United States, EU and Russia
    to come to a common denominator during discussions on the said problem
    in the UN.

    - Can the events in South Ossetia influence Nagorno Karabakh conflict
    in some way?

    - Possible threat to Georgia's sovereignty will cause damage to the
    whole region. Naturally, if the territorial integrity of Georgia is
    not ensured (by the way, the United States has always supported
    official Tbilisi in this issue), it will undoubtedly affect the
    Karabakh problem as well.

    /Day.Az/


    URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/46858.html
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