Moscow rejects blame for closure of UN, OSCE Caucasus missions

MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - Western "regret" over the withdrawal of the UN and OSCE missions from the Caucasus is "a hypocritical attempt" to evade responsibility, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

"The Russian side did all it could to continue the UN and OSCE presence in the region on a pragmatic basis," Andrei Nesterenko said.

The United Nations Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe failed recently to agree on extending the work of observer missions for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, respectively.