OREANDA-NEWS. July 8, 2009.Question: Please comment on the allegations being circulated in the West that responsibility for the winding-up of the UN and OSCE presences in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Georgia lies on the Russian Federation.

Answer: These allegations are absolutely contrary to reality. As a matter of fact, the Russian side had done everything possible to pragmatically solve the question of continuing the UN and OSCE activity in the region, to which we attach great significance as a factor of bolstering regional stability and security.

I would like to draw to the attention of the media the materials posted on the Russian MFA website that convincingly reveal the flexibility and constructive approach of Russian diplomacy, our persistent efforts to find a compromise, both in Vienna and in New York. An unbiased look at them shows that the real cause behind the winding-up of the missions is the striving of our partners in the OSCE and UN Security Council to fix in their mandates unrealistic and therefore unacceptable political statements. For the sake of this, regrettably, they turned out to be ready to sacrifice the very existence of these important international presences.

So the “regrets” being voiced in the West over the fate of the UN and OSCE missions in Transcaucasia look like a hypocritical attempt to shift the blame onto someone else.