The United States is urging all parties to refrain from escalating the situation in South Ossetia and work through the European Monitoring Mission hotline to resolve it, US Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2019) The United States is urging all parties to refrain from escalating the situation in South Ossetia and work through the European Monitoring Mission hotline to resolve it, US Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said."The United States is monitoring reports of military buildup near the administrative boundary line (ABL) of the Russian-occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia," Ortagus said. "We call on all sides to avoid escalation and work through the European Monitoring Mission hotline and the Geneva International Discussion Co-Chairs to resolve the situation."
Ortagus said the United States is also calling on Russia to use all available channels so that further escalation in the situation can be avoided.
Earlier on Friday, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia said the Georgian government will not dismantle a police checkpoint near the village of Tsenlisi, which lies on the border with South Ossetia.
The statement came after Yegor Kochiev, the head of the South Ossetian delegation at the 95th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting, called on the Georgian government on Thursday to dismantle the police checkpoint. Kochiev gave Georgia until 6:00 a.m. (02:00 GMT) on Friday to act and said failure to act would result in taking "all measures authorized by law."
Following Georgia's refusal to dismantle the checkpoint, Russian and Ossetian participants of the IPRM event - co-facilitated by the OSCE to create a dialogue between Georgia and South Ossetia - walked out of the talks.
However, later of Friday, Georgia's National Security Council Chief of Staff Kakha Kemoklidze said he hoped the situation would be settled by the end of the day.
South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in 2008 following a deadly incursion and attack by Georgian troops. The next meeting of the IPRM is scheduled for October 2.
