TBILISI. April 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian Foreign Ministry will shortly publish a statement following the shooting down of an unmanned aircraft in Georgian airspace, Deputy Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said.
"The Georgian Foreign Ministry views this as an act of armed aggression on the part of Russia and declares that Russia is a side in the conflict in Abkhazia and does not contribute to peace there," Vashadze told a briefing on Tuesday.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry will demand in its statement that the Russian leadership recall its decision on establishing special relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said.
According to earlier reports, the Georgian Defense Ministry's Air Forces said that a Russian fighter MIG-29 shot down an unmanned aircraft in Georgian airspace. Georgian Air Forces Commander David Nairashvili said the aircraft was the property of the Georgian Interior Ministry and was conducting a scheduled flight over Georgian territory.
Meanwhile the Russian Air Forces Command rejected the Georgian statement that the aircraft was shot down by a Russian Air Forces MIG-29 fighter.
"On Sunday April 20, when the Georgian aircraft was shot down, the pilots of the Air Forces were relaxing, they had a legal holiday," Assistant Russian Air Forces Commander-in-Chief Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax on Monday. "No Russian Air Forces airplanes conducted flights in the North Caucasus region on April 20," he said.
Earlier the Abkhaz Defense Ministry rejected Georgian allegations that a Georgian unmanned aircraft was shot down by a Russian MIG-29 fighter on April 20.
"A Georgian reconnaissance plane was shot down at an altitude of 6,000 meters over the village of Gagida by an Abkhaz Air Forces L-39 jet airplane, Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Garri Kupalba told a press conference in Sukhumi on Monday.