UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Six Western nations marked the 15th anniversary of Russia’s takeover of 20% of Georgia’s territory by demanding on Thursday that Moscow return the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.
A joint statement by the six members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, United Kingdom, France, Albania, Japan and Malta — said Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 “marked a more aggressive trend” in its policy toward its neighbors, something being witnessed today in Ukraine.
The statement, following closed council consultations on Georgia, said the six countries “are resolute” in reaffirming the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity “within its internationally recognized borders.”
The statement, read by Albanian Ambassador Ferit Hoxha outside the Security Council surrounded by diplomats from the five other countries, condemned Russia’s “brutal invasion” and continued occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and its “steps toward annexation of these Georgian regions.”
They pointed to Russia’s continued military drills in Georgia’s territory, sea and airspace as well as its erection of barbed wire fences and other barriers, its unlawful detentions and abductions of local people, discrimination against ethnic Georgians, and deliberate damage to Georgian cultural heritage.
The six countries said the Russia-Georgia conflict should be resolved peacefully based on international law, including the U.N. Charter, which requires every country’s territorial integrity be recognized, “also noting the context of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine.”
