11 September 2008

Statement on Russia’s Compliance with Cease-Fire Agreement

U.S. welcomes European Union’s commitment to add observers in Georgia

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United States Mission to the OSCE
Statement on Georgia
As delivered by Deputy Chief of Mission Kyle Scott
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
September 11, 2008

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

We sincerely appreciate French President Sarkozy’s efforts to secure Russia’s compliance with the six-point Ceasefire Agreement. In that regard, I would underscore, our Russian colleague just emphasized the importance of the September 8th agreement but I would underscore the first paragraph of that agreement which reaffirms the original six-point Ceasefire Agreement. We also commend the Chairman-in-Office for his ongoing and admirable efforts to resolve this conflict and to move forward “without delay” in deploying the additional military monitors, as called for in Permanent Council Decision No. 861 of August 19th.

Mr. Chairman, the United States looks forward to Russia fulfilling its commitment to withdraw its peacekeepers from the five observation posts along the line between Poti and Senaki within the agreed timeframe - within seven days of the September 8th agreement between President Sarkozy and President Medvedev.

We also await Russia’s withdrawal of its forces to their pre-conflict positions, as required by the six-point Ceasefire Agreement.  We are concerned by President Medvedev’s September 9th statement that Russia would base 7,600 troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  We remind Russia that the Ceasefire Agreement obligates the withdrawal of all Russian troops to the positions they held before August 7th.

Once more, the United States calls on Russia to implement in its entirety the commitments made in the Ceasefire Agreement and its clarifying documents.  In light of the recently reported shooting of a Georgian police officer, we remind Russia that its forces are responsible for taking steps to maintain order in the areas of Georgia that they occupy.  We expect them to cooperate with the Georgian investigation of the incident and to ensure the safety and security of all persons in their vicinity.  The Ceasefire Agreement must apply equally to Russia as it does to Georgia.

We strongly demand that Russia not block the free flow of humanitarian assistance to all areas of Georgia.  The Russian checkpoint at Karaleti continues to turn back shipments of humanitarian assistance and assessment teams that are trying to reach the villages south of Tskhinvali.  This violates point 3 of the Ceasefire Agreement signed by President Medvedev.

We welcome the European Union’s commitment to put 200 EU observers on the ground by October 1st.  The United States believes these observers, together with the 100 additional OSCE military monitoring officers called for in the Permanent Council decision of August 19th, will constitute the international mechanism of the six-point Ceasefire Agreement.

We urge the OSCE to quickly reach agreement on modalities for the additional MMOs, so that the remaining 80 monitoring officers can be deployed as soon as possible.

Mr. Chairman, the United States will continue to stand with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government, to support Georgia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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