By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia signed on Thursday a peace plan to resolve their conflict with Georgia at a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The peace plan was drawn up Tuesday during a meeting between Medvedev and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. Georgia has also accepted the plan.
It bans the use of force and any military action, and envisages free access to humanitarian aid. Under the agreement, Georgian Armed Forces should return to their bases, and Russian Armed Forces should pull back to their positions prior to combat.
Medvedev also told his South Ossetian and Abkhazian counterparts, Eduard Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh, respectively, that it would be necessary to draft a legally-binding comprehensive ceasefire deal that should include guarantees from Russia, the EU and the OSCE.
Medvedev assured the two separatist leaders that Russia’s stance on the two Georgian breakaway republics remained unchanged and that Moscow would support any decision made by the people of the rebel regions.
“I want you to know and tell the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that Russia’s position remains unchanged,” Medvedev said. “We will support any decision made by the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in line with the UN Charter, the 1966 international conventions, and the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe,” he said.
South Ossetia’s Kokoity said the United States and Europe were responsible for the “genocide” in his nation.
“Georgia did not act on its own – most European countries, and the United States, are to blame for the genocide against the South Ossetian people,” Kokoity said.
Georgia attacked the rebel province early on August 8 and later in the day Russia moved troops in to support its peacekeepers and force the Georgians out. South Ossetia’s capital, Tskhinvali, was mostly destroyed. Around 1,600 civilians and 18 peacekeepers were killed.