MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia will see their mission through to the end, Russia's defense minister said Friday.
"Our soldiers will implement their mandate to the end, until all political agreements are in existence," Sergei Ivanov told journalists.
He added that there were threats to the security of Russian peacekeepers in the South Ossetia conflict zone.
Ivanov said the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone was the only factor preventing an outbreak of military operations.
He also said peacekeepers were acting under a mandate from the Joint Control Commission -comprising Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia - which is attempting to find a solution to the conflict, and added that Russia had no plans to increase the number of peacekeepers.
Georgia's state minister for conflict resolution issues said earlier Russia had brought in forces in excess of the established quota, using the rotation of its peacekeeping battalion in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict as a cover, while Georgian peacekeepers' commander in the conflict zone said Russia had brought in hundreds of new troops.
A Russian peacekeeping battalion has been stationed in South Ossetia since an end to fighting in the early 1990s after the region tried to secede from Georgia.
