MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia is opposed to any attempts to drive Russian peacekeepers from the conflict zones in the Caucasus state, the foreign minister of the unrecognized republic said Tuesday.
The Georgian parliament passed a resolution Tuesday advising the government to suspend peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and take urgent measures to introduce international peacekeepers.
"We take an extremely negative view on any attempts to expel Russian peacekeepers and replace them with any other [contingent]," Murat Dzhioyev said.
He said the Russian peacekeepers were performing their functions effectively, were a guarantee of peace and calm in the region and should stay until the conflict was fully resolved.
"The battle Georgia is waging against the peacekeeping forces is a battle against peace and against the people who live in the conflict zones," Dzhioyev said.
