Georgian Foreign Ministry Statement

A statement issued by the Georgian Foreign Ministry today says that the fact, stated by Russia, that it does not plan to withdraw its troops from Georgian territory "indicates clearly that the Russian Federation after its attempts of military intervention in Georgia, invasion of a part of Georgian territory and overthrow of the democratically elected government, has decisively chosen ethnic cleansing and destruction of civilian infrastructure with the use of military force as an instrument of its foreign policy." In addition, it says:

Russian troops are illegally stationed in Poti and its adjacent area located 30 kilometers away from the conflict zone of Abkhazia and 160 kilometers away from the conflict zone of Tskhinvali region.

On 25 August 2008, late at night, drunken Russian servicemen broke into a local plant of the Nikora private company in Poti robbing and raiding it. This fact makes it obvious that the Russian occupation troops present in Georgia have turned into gangs of looters riding roughshod on the civilian population and economic infrastructure.

The Georgian foreign ministry "calls on the international community to take all measures necessary to prevent the Russian Federation from invading the territory of Georgia, conducting ethnic cleansing and destroying its economy."