TBILISI. Feb 7 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia's parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze has again assailed Russian peacekeepers operating in the region.
"The Russian peacekeepers have turned a blind eye to the concentration of weapons and heavy military hardware in the region and on human rights abuses. Any sober-minded person would wonder what the purpose of keeping a Russian peacekeeping force in the Tskhinvali region is," Burjanadze told an international inter-parliamentary conference in Tbilisi.
The conference is being attended by parliamentary deputies from the Baltic States and the South Caucasus countries.
Burjanadze also said that Georgia "had no plans to expel Russian peacekeepers from Georgia." "We insisted that the peacekeepers effectively fulfill their functions," she said.
A final decision on whether Georgia will demand Russian peacekeepers withdraw from the Tskhinvali region will be made Tuesday at a meeting of the Georgian parliament bureau, which will be attended by Cabinet members.