By RIA Novosti
Monino (Moscow Region) : Russia Saturday said it was prepared to cooperate with Georgia in investigating the alleged violation of the latter’s airspace.
“We will work within the framework of existing agreements,” Air Force Commander Colonel General Alexander Zelenin said. He added that if Georgia asks, Russia is prepared to provide all airspace control data.
Georgia Tuesday had accused Russia of firing a missile a day earlier on a village 65 kilometres northwest of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and near the border with its breakaway region of South Ossetia. The 640-kg missile did not explode, but has fuelled tension between the two republics of the erstwhile Soviet Union.
Russia – accused by Tbilisi of backing South Ossetian and Abkhazian separatists – has denied involvement in the incident and demanded a thorough probe, saying it was “a new provocation” staged by Tbilisi to destabilise the region.
South Ossetia has echoed the accusations, saying the aircraft came from the Georgian side.