On armed conflicts on the territory of Georgia

News on escalation of conflict in South Ossetia (Georgia) that led to numerous victims among the civilian population, emergence of refugee problem, destruction of cities and villages and vitally important economic infrastructure were perceived in Ukraine with deep concern.

Particular concern was caused by the fact that the Russian Federation, which for an extended period of time played the mediator role in the settlement, became a direct participant in the conflict. Such developments can aggravate the situation, expand the geography of the conflict and turn it into the regional one with unpredictable consequences.

Ukraine called on all sides to immediately cease fire and start direct negotiations without any preliminary conditions. In this context Ukraine called onto the Russian Federation, permanent member of the UN Security Council, to withdraw its troops from the territory of Georgia, to exercise  self-restraint and exert due influence on the separatist regime of Tshinvali in order to bring its representatives back to the negotiations table.

The conflict resolution is possible only on the basis of unconditional respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, commitment to the principles of good neighborhood, non-use of force and peaceful resolution of conflicts through mediation, good services by international organizations and countries. For its part, Ukraine is ready to make its contribution to such efforts.

On August 8th the President of Ukraine dispatched to Georgia his special envoy in the rank of Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Kostiantyn Yeliseyev to study the situation and find ways to peaceful resolution of this conflict. On August 9-11 Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ogryzko visited Tbilisi and held a number of meetings with the country leadership.

In connection with the fact that several Russian Federation Black Sea Fleet ships left their permanent base in Sevastopol, Ukraine warned the Russian side against their possible participation in the conflict. In order to avoid emergence of circumstances under which Ukraine may be drawn into the military conflict and military actions through the participation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet military formations, temporarily deployed on the Ukrainian territory, the Ukrainian side reserves the right in compliance with international law and Ukrainian legislation to ban return to the Ukrainian territory of the ships potentially taking part in the aforementioned actions until the conflict is resolved.

In connection with the allegations against Ukraine regarding arms sales to Georgia the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine issued a press-release stressing that Ukraine, while conducting military-technical cooperation with foreign states, including Georgia, is guided by the UN Security Council resolutions, strictly adhering to the rules in arm sales imposed by international regimes, as well as to the national legislation export control norms. In this regard, Ukraine’s military-technical cooperation with Georgia has not been restricted by any relevant international organizations and therefore is absolutely legitimate and corresponds both to friendly nature of the relations between the two countries and to the norms of international law.

In the view of the aggravation of the situation in Georgia the Foreign Ministry recommended Ukrainian citizens to refrain from trips to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia.

The developments in South Ossetia, Georgia, have revealed inefficiency of the existing in the region trilateral (Georgian-South Ossetian-Russian) peacekeeping mechanism, and the need for involvement of international organizations, the EU and OSCE in particular.

With the aim of finding opportunities for peaceful conflict settlement Ukraine together with Lithuania and Poland worked out proposals to the settlement plan including the following:

1. Immediate cease-fire.
2. International security guaranties (OSCE) in the conflict zone including Russian Federation participation.
3. International control of the Roksky tunnel at the Russian-Georgian border in South Ossetia.
4. Elections in South Ossetia under the OSCE monitoring.
5. Economic rehabilitation of the region involving international donors’ assistance.
6. Return to South Ossetia of all refugees that fled from the region since 1992.
7. Comprehensive and permanent UN involvement.

This action plan is not an alternative to the settlement plans developed by international organizations, including the EU and OSCE. It is a contribution of the three states into the consolidation of international efforts on this matter. It remains open for comments and proposals, as well as joining by other countries.