23 апреля 2008 Года
UN TO CONSIDER SITUATION IN GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ CONFLICT ZONE NEW YORK, April 23 (RIA Novosti) - The UN Security Council will hold a closed meeting Wednesday at 20:00 GMT on the situation in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone, Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN said.
The latest dispute over the province, one of two regions that Tbilisi says Russia is trying to annex, was fueled on Monday when Georgia accused Russia of shooting down an unmanned reconnaissance plane in Georgian airspace. Russia's Air Force has denied the allegation.
Churkin told reporters in New York earlier: "I can assure you that at this meeting we will have a thing or two to say about the latest unconstructive and at times provocative actions of the Georgian side."
The meeting of the Security Council, on which Russia holds a permanent seat, was requested last week by Georgia's Foreign Minister David Bakradze, who said Russian plans granting legal status to companies in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and for closer cooperation with their governments were "an attempt to annex two Georgian regions."
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili during a phone conversation Monday that the planned measures were not in contravention of international law and are aimed at improving the socioeconomic situation in the region.
Putin also said Georgian reconnaissance flights over Abkhazia run counter to a 1994 ceasefire agreement.
Russia's ambassador to Georgia was summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry and given a protest note over Sunday's incident in Abkhazia. Georgia claims that a Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter from the Gudauta military base in Abkhazia shot down the Georgian drone, reportedly an Israeli-made Hermes 450.
Saakashvili said in a national TV broadcast Monday evening that the Georgian side had proof the incident took place.
"For the first time in the last few years, after repeated incidents of Russia violating Georgia's airspace and acts of aggression, we have video footage of a Russian attack aircraft bombing Georgian territory."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday Russia would clarify the situation over the downed drone.
"We expect that this time the meeting will carefully examine what is happening in this region, this is not the first time unmanned flights have taken place over the conflict zone, defined in the Moscow agreement and approved by the UN Security Council, where no one should be flying," he said.
The Haaretz newspaper said citing an unnamed source in Israel's security structures that Israel has confirmed the downed drone had been produced by the Israeli company Elbit Systems.
Georgia is seeking to regain control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia which it lost in 1991 when the two republics broke away in conflicts following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Ex-Soviet breakaway regions have stepped up their drive for self-rule since Kosovo's declaration of independence on February 17. Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia, along with Moldova's Transdnestr, have since asked Russia's parliament, the UN and other organizations to recognize their independence.
From RIA Novosti
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