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Russia warns of Georgian 'threat'
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Global
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By Agencies
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![Russia currently maintains a peacekeeping force in both of Georgia's breakaway regions [EPA]](http://mwcnews.net/images/stories/Europe/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/Georgian-threat.jpg "Russia currently maintains a peacekeeping force in both of Georgia's breakaway regions [EPA]") | | Russia currently maintains a peacekeeping force in both of Georgia's breakaway regions [EPA] |
Russia's defence ministry is sending extra peacekeeping troops to two Georgian separatist regions in response to what it calls aggressive moves by Georgia.
"Analysis of the structure of the armed forces in this region leads to the conclusion that a bridgehead is being prepared... for military operations against Abkhazia," the ministry said.
Russia maintains a peacekeeping force in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia under agreements reached with Tbilisi in the 1990s following wars in which the two regions broke from central Georgian control.
Georgia has denounced Moscow's announcement as unacceptable and "provocative".
Troop build-up
"This is not acceptable to us... They cannot increase the number any further," Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for Georgia's interior ministry said.
He denied claims that Georgia was amassing troops near the separatist regions.
"There has been no increase in forces from the Georgian side, nothing at all. The Russian statement is simply not true," Utiashvili said. Moscow has established increasingly close ties with the separatists, including encouraging residents there to take up Russian citizenship and frequently inviting the regions leaders to Moscow.
On Tuesday, Russia's defence ministry said in a statement that Georgia had amassed 1,500 soldiers and police in the upper Kodori Gorge, a pocket of breakaway Abkhazia which is controlled by Tbilisi.
'Tough' response
"Any attempt by the Georgian side to resolve the conflicts with force against Russian peacekeepers and also against Russian citizens... will be met with an adequate and tough answer," the ministry said.
Georgia accuses Moscow of attempting to annex Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
A Black Sea enclave bordering Russia, Abkhazia was once the favourite holiday destination of the former Soviet Union's ruling elite.
Like fellow rebel republic South Ossetia, it refuses to recognise Georgian central rule and fought a war in the early 1990s to establish de facto independence.
The 1992-93 conflict killed 10,000 people and displaced 250,000 civilians before Georgian troops were forced out.
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Tags: Russia Georgian
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