10 September 2008, 22:25
Russia insists on arms embargo for Georgia
Vitaly Churkin, Russia's permanent UN representative, believes that ban to further militarization of Georgia will contribute to normalization of the situation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
We remind you that back on September 1 the necessity to introduce embargo on arms deliveries to Georgia was stated by head of Russian MFA Sergey Lavrov.
According to Mr Churkin, "there's no doubt that the unrestrained arming of Georgia in recent years, supported by the United States and some other countries, contributed to the aggressive action accomplished by Saakashvili against South Ossetia." He told this on air of the "Vesti-24" TV Channel.
According to Russia's permanent representative, "in order to have the trend of both Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian conflicts towards normalization, such step as arms embargo in relation to Georgia looks quite expedient and necessary."
"It's in the interest of all the parties to enforce the arms embargo on Georgia," Mr Churkin is quoted by the "Echo Moskvy" Radio with reference to the France Presse Agency. At the same time, the Russian representative has recognized that some members of the Security Council, the USA, in particular, will most probably veto the resolution.
