TBILISI. Feb 5 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia Interior Minister Georgy Baramidze has characterized the role of the Russian peacekeeping forces in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict area as "extremely destructive."
"Russian peacekeepers are directly involved in the contraband business in the conflict area and are not doing anything to protect the Georgian population in the Gali district of Abkhazia," Baramidze told a news conference in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
Baramidze has recently returned to Tbilisi after visiting the Samegrelo district, Western Georgia, which borders on Abkhazia.