1338-10-09-2008
Foreign Minister Lavrov: Madame Plassnik and I have thoroughly discussed the state of our bilateral relations, reaffirming a common positive appraisal of political dialogue and of economic, commercial and humanitarian cooperation. We agreed to soon complete the preparation of a number of intergovernmental agreements, which will help build up our collaboration in the fight against crime and in the areas of scientific-technical, energy and humanitarian interaction.
The Russian side continues on the basis of its legislation to work on the problem of cultural property displaced during the Second World War. We aim to jointly search for mutually acceptable solutions with regard for the reciprocal steps which the Austrian side undertakes.
We also welcomed the intention of the scientific communities of the two countries to form a joint commission for the study of the recent history of Russian-Austrian relations. The first meeting of this commission of historians is due to be held before the end of this year. This independent body will, of course, contribute to a perception of the joint historical past that is free of political engagement.
Among international issues, for understandable reasons we paid the main attention to the situation in the Caucasus surrounding South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The position of Russia on that score is well known. We strictly follow the principles that were agreed upon by Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy. Russia is fulfilling all the obligations assumed. As I have earlier said, another document was agreed on yesterday by the Russian and French presidents, with the participation of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Secretary General Javier Solana, concretizing most precisely with the indication of sequence the steps that need to be undertaken to fully comply with the existing agreement.
Of course, the talk was also about Russian relations with the European Union. We already gave our assessment of the outcome of the September 1 EU summit. We believe a sober, reasonable approach has prevailed in Europe on the whole. Our line on building a strategic partnership with the EU remains unchanged. Undoubtedly, this partnership rests on the reciprocal consideration of interests and on a search for mutually acceptable understandings in the most different fields. We are convinced that our partnership with the EU should not and cannot be hostage to difference in approaches to this or that specific question.
We will continue our work after this press conference over a working lunch. I am sure we will discuss constructively the prospects for our cooperation in the context of pan-European security problems and in the context of international problems, including our interaction at the UN, where Austria traditionally plays a very constructive role.
Question: What, in Russia"s opinion, can the European Union do in order to guarantee the security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia? How long will Russian armed forces remain on the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: Regarding the first question, at the press conference this morning I already had the opportunity to enumerate the accords reached yesterday. We attach special significance, firstly, to the necessity confirmed to ensure before October 1 the full withdrawal of Georgian forces to their places of permanent deployment. Secondly, to the nonuse of force guarantees made yesterday on behalf of the EU - I mean the letter to Mikhail Saakashvili, obliging Georgia to confirm the nonuse of force against Abkhazia and South Ossetia. And thirdly, to the physical presence of international observers to be provided, including no fewer than two hundred observers from the European Union in the areas abutting South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Yes, these are not troops. They are international observers. We wanted that other forms of peacekeeping would also be used, including an international police, but the European Union is not yet ready for that.
I think that the EU will itself decide how to do so that these observers really meet the goal set to prevent resumption of armed actions. We know who started these actions and who had engaged in starting them in the past. So the goal is understandable. Having assumed the legal guarantees and dispatching its observers to this region, to the zones abutting South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the EU I think is sending a very clear signal to the Georgian leadership that responsibility now lies with the EU, and with the OSCE and with the UN - regarding Abkhazia. Any provocations will now be provocations against the EU.
With regard to the second question - Russian forces are within the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the request of the presidents and parliaments of these two republics and by decree of the Russian President. In the coming days an agreement should be signed to give the presence of Russian forces in the republics a basis in international law. They will be there a long time. At least, in the foreseeable future this is absolutely necessary, so as not to allow a repeat of aggressive actions. We very much hope that the international mechanisms will effectively work around Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Knowing the full background of the problem, we are duty-bound to prevent new casualties among civilian inhabitants of these two republics. Our armed forces stationed on their territory will perform just this task.
Question: How many Russian peacekeepers were there in South Ossetia and Abkhazia before the start of the conflict? Is the question of increasing their numbers being considered?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: As to the number of Russian peacekeepers stationed in South Ossetia before the war unleashed by Saakashvili, they consisted of three or four hundred troops. The same number was set for the peacekeepers in South Ossetia and for the peacekeepers in Georgia. Immediately after the start of the aggression the number of our peacekeepers decreased, because the Georgian peacekeepers were shooting them, their comrades in the peacekeeping mission. Why did those who so strongly support the "democratic" regime of Tbilisi endeavor to forget about this?
As to the second part of your question, these will not be peacekeepers. They will be, as I"ve said, Russian armed forces who will be stationed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in numbers sufficient to respond to possible relapses into aggression. Those will not be any beyond-limit figures. Now these parameters are being agreed on between us and, respectively, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Question: Is the question being considered of reopening the Russian military base in Cuba that was closed five years ago?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: I thought you were asking about the closing of the base at Guantanamo... A radar center? No, that question is not being considered.
Question: What will happen if the time for observer deployment fails to be kept?
Foreign Minister Lavrov (speaks after Plassnik): I can only note further that we will never disappear as partners. But the first step, in line with yesterday"s accord, depends on the European Union. We specifically asked yesterday during the talks if the EU would have time to deploy at least 200 observers before October 1. They answered us in the affirmative, among them Javier Solana, who evidently will be concerned with the practical aspects of this matter. If this happens before October 1, then within ten days after this we will withdraw our peacekeeping posts outside Abkhazia and South Ossetia. If it happens later, then the ten-day countdown will start from the date of the observers" actual arrival and deployment.
Question: My question concerns the differences in position between the EU and Russia over the territorial belonging of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. How to arrive at a common opinion? For there are certain differences in the interpretation of international law, aren"t there? What will be the base for talks at Geneva in October, then? If Russia continues to insist on the independence of these regions, how will the EU act?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: Russia does not engage in the interpretation of international law. Russia observes all its provisions in the totality. It is not we who began to engage in international-law interpretation. A most recent example of such interpretation is Kosovo. The territorial integrity of Serbia was repeatedly confirmed by a decision of the UN Security Council. The Council last endorsed that confirmation by consensus in November 2007, shortly before the talks were unilaterally broken off and the recognition of Kosovo"s independence began unilaterally. Russia did not engage in the interpretation of international law when the Soviet Union disintegrated, when the former Georgian president, Mr. Gamsakhurdia, put forward a pseudo-European slogan "Georgia for Georgians," abolished the autonomy of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and launched an assault on Tskhinval and Sukhum. Russian helped to stop this massacre then, and international legal agreements were concluded and endorsed by the UN and OSCE. And despite the fact that Abkhazia and South Ossetia kept making urgent appeals to recognize their independence and take them under its protection, since they did not trust the Georgian leadership, Russia all this time strictly adhered to the principle of the territorial integrity of Georgia. It adhered to this principle even when the unilateral recognition of Kosovo"s independence took place. And we specifically emphasized that we did not intend to act like monkeys and would continue to work towards settlement of the South Ossetian and Abkhaz conflicts on the basis of the principle of Georgia"s territorial integrity. In particular, this point was made during the conversations of President Putin with Saakashvili in February and twice - of President Medvedev, in June and July this year. We sincerely desired that everything should go precisely along the path of settlement. We adhered to this position despite the constant provocations by Tbilisi against our peacekeepers as well as the constant sabotage by Saakashvili of the agreements concerning the mechanism for resolving the conflict. It was Saakashvili who gave his interpretation of international law by starting the war and by killing innocent civilians. Those, according to his own assertion, whom he wanted to see as inhabitants and citizens of his country. Is this European-like? And when Mr. Saakashvili is disgorging, mildly speaking, untruth, as he speaks in Tbilisi on various occasions, and when behind his back, apart from the flag of Georgia, there is also the flag of the European Union? Does he thus underline that the European Union fully shares his actions? We asked our French colleagues about this. They said this was the wrong approach, and that Georgia as a non-member of the European Union cannot so facilely handle EU symbols.
What is to be discussed at Geneva? It is, above all, the tasks formulated in the document agreed upon yesterday. The chief thing is to define the ways for ensuring lasting security and stability in the region. Of course, given the history of the last few years, a major issue will be preventing a remilitarization of Georgia. We will necessarily speak about this to those who were supplying it with offensive arms in violation of the OSCE and EU principles of inadmissibility of arms supplies to zones of conflict and in breach of the Wassenaar Arrangement principles of inadmissibility of destabilizing accumulations of conventional arms.
I can only back up Madame Plassnik in that we highly appreciate the European Union"s role, despite our difference of opinion over the problem of territorial integrity that you refer to and which is well known. We see the EU"s sincere desire to ensure that peace comes to this region. We look forward to the closest interaction with the French Presidency, with the European Commission and with other EU members during the preparation and conduct of the international discussion that we have agreed upon and which will start on October 15.
10-09-2008
http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/06165ce79a4accd6c32574c100314155?OpenDocument
