MOSCOW. Aug 19 (Interfax-AVN) - At a Wednesday meeting with the Troika of EU ambassadors, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin said it was Tbilisi's fault that a ceasefire agreement reached by Georgia and South Ossetia had not been put into effect, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The parties voiced their serious concern over the fact that the agreements achieved (at the August 13-14 emergency session of the Joint Control Commission on the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict - Interfax) in Tskhinvali have not been put into practice through Georgia's fault," the Foreign Ministry said.
"It must be ensured that the cease-fire agreement starts being put into effect and illegal armed units begin leaving the conflict zone immediately. It is also necessary to strictly adhere to all existing agreements on the principles of the conflict's settlement as well as the establishment and functioning of the joint peacekeeping forces and the Joint Control Commission," the Foreign Ministry said.
"Doubts have been expressed that a suggested conference under OSCE auspices on the Georgian-Ossetian conflict could produce some positive result," the ministry said.
Such a conference would require preliminary agreements and active participation by Tbilisi and Tskhinvali, the Foreign Ministry said. "It is clear now that if at least some minimal confidence building measures are not taken by the parties, any serious talks will be impossible," it says.
The EU ambassadors expressed their gratitude to Russia for unveiling its "position on the crisis surrounding the settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict."
"They said that the European Union also calls to comply with the cease-fire protocol and underscores the need for the conflicting parties to show their restraint and create conditions for talks aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict," the Foreign Ministry said.