OREANDA-NEWS. June 16, 2009. Despite the warnings from Russia, a group of western UN Security Council members nevertheless put to the vote in the Council a draft resolution on a “technical roll-over” for the UN Mission in the Abkhaz-Georgian border area until June 30. It was again burdened with unacceptable references and terminology which, as our partners well knew, we cannot accept since Abkhazia as an independent state does not figure in it. Besides, there is no sense to again extend the mandate of UN observers, formed to oversee the ceasefire in 1994. It won’t do in the present situation. Of key significance for continued work of UN observers in this region is the new security regime agreed with the UNSC partners. It was in this regard that the Russian draft resolution was prepared and submitted on June 12 in New York. Unfortunately, we did not see the readiness to make this sensible decision.

In this connection the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations was given instructions to exercise the right of veto in the UNSC vote on the western draft resolution. Serious decisions in the realm of security cannot be tied to moves of a political nature removed from reality. Thus, the mandate of the former United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia has expired, and it starts wrapping up its operations in Abkhazia and Georgia.

It is beyond doubt that the responsibility for the withdrawal from the region of the observers and staff of the UN Mission, whose long-standing work was generally positively received in Moscow, in Sukhum and in New York, lies with the western states which have been demonstrating over-ideologized stubbornness for months now. They, it seems, do not need UN observers who would hamper use-of-force relapses of the Tbilisi leadership. What turned out to be considerably more important was the desire by hook or by crook to underscore in the draft UNSC resolution the existence of Georgia within its previous, pre-August 2008, borders and to simultaneously erase Abkhazia from the political map of Transcaucasia and revive the state of “unsettledness of the conflict” which has actually been settled.

The Russian side approached the matter seriously and constructively, and repeatedly sought to find solutions mutually acceptable to all. The partners have no right to reproach us with the lack of desire to seek a compromise. We continuously urged them to forge effective cooperation involving all the international entities previously operating in the region. The Russian military and border guards, despite the bilateral character of the agreements concluded by the Russian Federation with the Republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the military and border spheres, stand ready to continue to foster interaction with the UN and OSCE and with the European Union monitors, particularly within the framework of the joint mechanisms to prevent and respond to incidents in the border areas.

The closure of the OSCE Mission in Georgia, the soon to expire period of work of the twenty OSCE military observers in the zones of Georgia adjacent to South Ossetia, and now also the wrap-up of the UN Mission in the Abkhaz-Georgian border area – these facts are built into a tendency which leaves us wondering about the true strivings of Georgia and its backers in terms of the assurance of security and stability, restoration of trust and the fostering of good-neighborly ties among the states of the region. The rejection of our proposal to work out legally binding documents on the nonuse of force also makes us cautious.

There is less and less doubt that the protracted domestic political instability in Georgia spurs the Tbilisi regime to again try and switch attention to “external enemies,” to the problem of its own territorial integrity. This is not the first time the Georgian leadership thus attempts to avoid dealing with the vital socioeconomic tasks before the country. We will not be surprised if following the withdrawal of the international UN observers Tbilisi will seek to lure into their place those who suit the Georgian leaders more.

In the region in accordance with the agreement between Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia will continue its work. Despite certain questions that we have about it, in particular, concerning its potential effectiveness in the event of new aggressive proclivities on the part of Georgia, the presence of the EU observers in the Georgian territories adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia is a weighty restraining factor. We stand ready to continue and strengthen our cooperation with the European Union in this field, including joint work in the mechanisms to prevent incidents.

For its part, the Russian Federation will continue efforts aimed at ensuring the reliable security of the new young states in Transcaucasia and their economic and social development. Together with the allies from Abkhazia and South Ossetia we will once again review the situation, the new risks arising out of it owing to the absence of other key restraining elements of international monitoring, and the requirements in additional measures to reinforce security.