TSINKHVAL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2019) South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov said on Friday that there will be no military confrontation with Georgia following the latter's refusal to dismantle the police checkpoint near the South Ossetian village of Tsenlisi.
"I want to inform everyone that there will be no military confrontation, which is wanted by the Georgian side," Bibilov wrote on Facebook.
According to him, the village residents are now "perfectly safe" and are guarded by the South Ossetian border service. The president also denied rumors that he got his family out.
"My family is here, except for the eldest son, who went to study in Moscow accompanied by his mother," Bibilov wrote.
On Thursday, Yegor Kochiev, the head of the South Ossetian delegation at the 95th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting, which is co-facilitated by the OSCE and aims to create a dialogue between Georgia and South Ossetia, called on Tbilisi to dismantle a police checkpoint near the village of Tsnelisi. Kochiev gave Georgia until Friday morning to heed to the request, otherwise threatening to "take all measures authorized by law" in response.
Following Georgia's refusal, Russian and Ossetian participants of the IPRM event walked out.
South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in 2008 following a deadly incursion by Georgian troops. The IPRM was set up to prevent further clashes. The next meeting is scheduled for October 2.
