Moscow denies support for conflict settlement plan

MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Foreign Ministry denied information that it backed Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli's plan for the settlement of the Georgian-South-Ossetian conflict. "Allegations that Russia supports this plan contradict reality," ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said.

Kamynin said the study of this plan revealed a number of drawbacks, of which Georgian representatives were informed.

"Tbilisi's new initiative as outlined in a document does not provide for abiding by the three-stage process in the conflict's settlement, which was a positive feature of the plan proposed by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at the session of the UN General Assembly in New York last September," the diplomat said.

He called Nogaideli's plan weak because it demanded that the current mechanism of settlement, the Joint Control Commission for the Georgian-South-Ossetian resolution, be replaced by some other, extended format.

Kamynin said the new Georgian initiative unjustifiably emphasized the determination of South Ossetia's political status, the issue postponed in the previous version of Georgia's proposal, by late 2006.

"This was sounded during the recent meetings with Zurab Nogaideli in Moscow. Russia set out arguments in favor of the plan's adjustment, which seemed to have met understanding on the part of Georgia," the official said.

He said the fact that the first version of the plan, with the same drawbacks, was presented in Europe was a surprise and that Moscow's reaction to Georgian proposals would be determined by their content.

South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1992, Russia and Georgia signed a ceasefire agreement, which envisaged the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone and the formation of a joint control commission comprising Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia.