US Department of State: ‘We will not stop working until Russia ends its occupation of sovereign Georgian territory’
The occupation forces have again started erecting a so-called border near the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on August 7. Photo: NIno Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The United States “will not stop working until Russia ends its occupation of sovereign Georgian territory”, the US Department of State Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said at a news briefing last night.
We support the right of hundreds of thousands of IDPs and refugees to return to their home safely and with dignity. Finally, we stand with the Georgian people and welcome the day we can commemorate the end of Russia’s occupation of their territory”, Ortagus stated.
.@statedeptspox: It has been eleven years since #Russia’s military invasion of #Georgia, when hundreds were killed or injured & over 190,000 civilians were displaced. @StateDept stands with the Georgian people & welcomes the day we can commemorate the end of Russia’s occupation. pic.twitter.com/N8iQJ0VMwq
— Department of State (@StateDept) August 8, 2019
Ortagus said eleven years “since Russia’s military invasion of Georgia” the impact of the conflict continues:
- livelihoods remain destroyed;
- families remain separated;
- freedom of movement has not been restored;
- property has not been returned.
She then underscored that within the last 24 hours, “we received reports that Russian-backed de facto authorities have started the process of borderization at a village near a South Ossetia administrative boundary line”.
If completed, this action would cut the village off from its irrigation system. These actions are a threat to peace and stability”, she stressed.
Ortagus further added that this action shows how “Russia consistently violates the Georgian people’s right to security and property”.
Therefore, the US urges Russia “to reverse its recognition of the so-called independence” of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions and “to withdraw its forces from the occupied territories”.
The permanent representatives of Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States to the United Nations released a joint statement on the eleventh anniversary of 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
The occupation forces have started erecting a so-called border in the village of Gugutiantkari, in Gori Municipality, which is located near the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region. The work has been in progress since August 7.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, President Salome Zurabishvili and other state officials paid tribute today to the victims of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia of 2008. PM Bakhtadze said at the Mukhadgverdi cemetery that the Russian occupation of Georgia is “the pain that should unite us all” despite the differences in political views.
Eleven years have passed since the most tragic day in the recent history of Georgia – the beginning of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. Today the Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding the date, saying that 11 years on from the war, Russia still continues its occupation and practical annexation of two Georgian regions, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia).
The permanent representatives of Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States to the United Nations have released a joint statement on the eleventh anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war following a UN Security Council session.
The Russian Embassy to the United States said in a statement put out yesterday that Russia “came to the rescue” of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region and “prevented an act of genocide”. The statement comes in response to the Department of State, which has promised on the eleventh anniversary of the Russia-Georgia war of August 8 that the US “will not stop working until Russia ends its occupation of sovereign Georgian territory”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a recent news briefing that on the eleventh anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, “Georgian and Western media and politicians are again trying to play the ‘borderisation’ card”.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia met with foreign diplomats today to discuss the erection of artificial barriers in the village of Gugutiantkari, in Gori Municipality, and its impact on the local population. Darsalia said such “destructive steps” negatively affect the humanitarian and security situation of people living near the occupation line.
Georgian Foreign Ministry has called the recent statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova on the situation in occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions “cynical”.
The US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices says that the ‘unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life by Russian and de facto authorities in the Russian-occupied Georgian regions’ is a ‘significant human rights issue.’
The US Department of State has condemned Russia's redoubled efforts of ‘borderisation’ amid pandemic.
Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, UK, US, Ireland and Norway have expressed support for Georgia following the UN Security Council’s online meeting yesterday, which discussed developments since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.The countries condemned Russia’s occupation of Georgian territories, creeping occupation, the illegal detention of Georgian citizens and other unlawful activities by the Russian-controlled occupation forces over the past 12 years.
The US Embassy to Georgia has responded to the 12th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, stating that ‘August 7 is a somber reminder of the thousands who have suffered and continue to suffer in the wake of Russia’s invasion.’
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that Russia must end its destabilisation actions in Georgia while speaking on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, referring to the occupation of 20 per cent of Georgian territories and the creeping occupation.The EU, UN, US and several top foreign officials have already responded to the anniversary of the war, condemning the occupation and calling upon Russia to withdraw its forces from historic Georgian lands.
‘Georgia, located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, is a small but open market that derives benefits from international trade, tourism, and transportation’, the US State Department reported earlier today in its 2020 Investment Climate Statement.