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Envoys at odds with S. Ossetia leader on helicopter incident

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TBILISI, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - A meeting between EU and U.S. ambassadors to Georgia and the president of its breakaway region of South Ossetia failed to produce any results, the republic's Press and Information Service said Tuesday.

Fueling regional tensions, South Ossetian air defenses last Sunday shot at and forced down a Georgian Mi-8 helicopter with the defense minister and deputy chief of the General Staff on board. The pilot managed to land and no one was hurt.

"The meeting was strained and did not produce a constructive result," the service said.

President Eduard Kokoity said the helicopter acted aggressively, which caused the Ossetian side to react accordingly.

"But the ambassadors, ignoring the reasoning of their opponent, maintained that it was unacceptable to fire on any aircraft, regardless of their origin or behavior," the agency said.

"In closing, both sides expressed hope that such meetings would be more productive in the future," it said.

Relations between Georgia and the northern province of South Ossetia have been tense since the early 1990s, when the republic proclaimed its independence following a bloody conflict with Georgia.

A trilateral peacekeeping force - Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian - maintains a fragile peace in the conflict zone, but Georgia is seeking to re-establish full control over the republic and introduce international peacekeepers to the area.

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