Russia's ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has dismissed media reports that the Georgian city of Gori is “in ruins.” He called the allegations a “disinformation campaign” and pointed to the fact that Russian peacekeepers have in
Speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, Churkin expressed his disappointment that “respectable publications are falling prey to this propaganda campaign”. On the possibility of a Security Council resolution on Georgia, he said there was a new draft whose purpose was “quite simply to support with the authority of the Security Council the six-point Medvedev-Sarkozy plan, and it is a completely different territory now.” He stressed that in any discussions regarding the territorial integrity of Georgia, “there is the question of the will of the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and we believe all these needs must be reflected in the thinking of the international community.” Responding to a question on Georgia's desire to join NATO, Churkin said Russia is opposed to any expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and there are “better ways to deal with matters of European-North Atlantic security, more cooperative ways that would include rather than exclude Russia”. To watch the full press briefing, click the link to the right