MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has sent another note to the Georgian Foreign Ministry demanding the immediate release of two Russian peacekeepers, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
"On September 11, the Russian Embassy presented another note to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, which demands that Tariel Khachirov and Vitaly Valiyev be released immediately and unconditionally and that official explanations be provided regarding the reasons for their arrest and the decision to keep them in custody," it said.
"Open lawlessness against Russian citizens goes beyond the standards of civilized contacts between states. Responsibility for possible negative consequences for bilateral relations lies fully with Georgia," it said.
"Russian consulate workers have not been provided with access to them. The Georgian Foreign Ministry has not given any coherent explanations for the violent actions by Georgian law enforcement agencies against the peacekeepers. No evidence of offences that they supposedly committed has been presented," it said.
On August 29, Georgian police detained Khachirov and Valiyev. The Russian citizens were serving with the North Ossetian battalion. The unit is incorporated in the Joint Peacekeeping Forces.
On September 1, the Mtskheta District Court ruled that the pair be detained for two months of preliminary arrest.