MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry protested Wednesday against Georgia's treatment of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone of South Ossetia, and warned Tbilisi not to escalate tensions in the region further.
Georgia earlier demanded a formal apology from the peacekeeping force, after blaming it for a road accident in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone late Tuesday and seizing the Russian truck involved. No one was injured in the crash.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin accused Georgia of "acts of provocation," after
Georgia sent military reinforcements into the zone following the accident.
The reinforcements were clearly aimed at provoking an armed response from the peacekeepers, he said. If it had not been for the Russian forces' restraint and composure, events would have taken a military turn, he said.
Kamynin said Moscow's repeated attempts to deal with such provocative acts through the Georgian government and officials in charge of the task force for a Georgian-Ossetian settlement had "failed to produce any positive results," prompting the conclusion that "in the political arena in Tbilisi, the shots are called by those seeking to provoke bloodshed and [then] blame Russian peacekeepers for it."
The incident came amid mounting tensions between the two ex-Soviet neighbors over other military and energy issues.
Tbilisi has repeatedly accused Moscow of siding with separatists in the breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Earlier this month, it also accused Moscow of mounting an energy blockade after the main pipeline transporting Russian natural gas to Georgia was damaged by explosions.
