OSCE envoy in Georgia tries to unravel missile puzzle

20 Aug, 2007 11:12 / Updated 17 years ago

A special envoy of the OSCE is in Georgia as part of a diplomatic mission to ease tensions after Georgia recently alleged that Russia launched a missile onto its territory.

“I think that we are getting a clear picture not only of the facts of what happened, because there are independent investigations, and finally we are here to do this, but we are getting pictures of the clear wishes of Georgia to proceed with a dialogue – with all possible means to come to the resolution of the conflict,” Miomir Zuzul, OSCE Chairman-in-Office envoy, commented. On August 6 a missile fell in Georgia’s Gori district. The rocket did not explode. Georgia immediately blamed Russia for the incident and said a Russian jet crossed Georgia's air-space. For its part, Russia denied any involvement in the incident and provided its radar records as proof. However, Georgia has accused Russia of not cooperating on the issue. “It was once again highlighted that co-operation of Russia in the acceptance of the realities would be, of course, helpful in finding the way how to progress in the political negotiations formats,” Dmitry Mandzhavidze, Georgia’s Deputy Conflict Resolution Minister stated.