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FM: Russian troops to stay in Abkhazia, South Ossetia
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-09 20:17 MOSCOW - Russian troops will stay in Abkhazia and South Ossetia for a long time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"Russian troops will be there for a long time. It is absolutely necessary in the foreseeable future in order to prevent relapses of aggressive actions," Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow. Georgian troops launched a sudden attack against South Ossetia on early August 8 to reclaim control over the Caucasus region, but was driven out of there by Russian forces. The military conflict was stopped on August 12 with a France-brokered ceasefire pact in which Moscow promised to pull out its troops. Lavrov said that there will be "an agreement that will create an international legal base for the presence of Russian troops on the territories of the republics" in the next few days. "This will be Russian troops rather than peacekeepers. Their number on the South Ossetian and Abkhaz territories will be enough to respond to possible relapses of aggression," he said. |