Tbilisi no longer sees Moscow as the guarantor of stability in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, Georgian State Minister for Separatist Conflicts Georgy Khaindrava said at a Friday meeting of the Joint Control Commission in Tskhinvali.

"Actions of Russia prevent us from viewing it as an intermediary in the settlement of this conflict," Khaindrava was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"The developments in the conflict zone keep to the plan drafted in Moscow. I think that Georgians and Ossetians can settle the existent problems and normalize their life unaided." Khaindrava said.

Earlier in the day Khaindrava called for putting the police in charge of the peacekeeping operation and replacing servicemen with police officers. He said on Thursday that Georgia had started "a legal analysis" of the Dagomys agreement, which stipulated the deployment of peacekeepers in South Ossetia.

State counselor to the South Ossetian president Konstantin Kochiyev said in a comment that "the peacekeepers are the main factor of peace and stability ... South Ossetia is encountering various kinds of provocations and extensive military preparations. "

"The Georgian refusal to discuss the drafting of a nonaggression document at today's meeting of the Joint Control Commission shows that Khaindrava does not have such powers. His function is to promote the pullout of peacekeepers, who may hamper a military operation in the republic."

The peacekeepers' question cannot be resolved outside the legal space, Kochiyev said. "If Georgia wants unilateral secession from the Dagomys agreement and is ready to disregard other settlement documents, including those signed with the participation of the OSCE, this wish is another illustrative example of its real intentions."

Source: Xinhua