Russia on Friday
rejected Georgia's charges that its jet fighter shot down a drone over Georgian
territory, which contributed to high tensions between the two countries.
Russian and Georgian delegates clashed during a closed-door UN Security Council
session, convened to hear charges by Georgia. The former Soviet republic
already had been clashing with its powerful neighbour on the breakaway Georgian
province Abkhazia, mostly inhabited by white Russians, and on the Russian-led peacekeeping
mission in Abkhazia.
A UN report corroborated Georgia's claims based on radar shots and video
footage from the downed drone.
But Russia points to leaders of the autonomous rebel region who said they shot
down the spy plane on April 20, and counters that Georgia's reconnaissance
flights over Abkhaz territory breach the UN ceasefire agreement that ended
civil war in 1994.
Frayed relations between Tbilisi and Moscow hit a crisis point after Moscow moved last month to strengthen diplomatic ties and increase its peacekeeping troops
in Abkhazia, where most residents have been issued Russian passports since
2000.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday the council
meeting was "senseless." Lavrov, a former Russian ambassador to the
UN, said the council should also include Abkhazian rebels in the debate.
"Without Abkhazia, tackling this problem is senseless. To refuse Abkhazia
participation in these talks suggests something dirty about these
proceedings," Lavrov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying Friday.
In New York, Russian's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters the footage
provided by Georgia on the shooting on April 20 was murky. He said Georgia's accusation that the drone was downed by a Russian jet fighter was "technically
inconsistent."
"There was no evidence that a Russian plane crossed into Georgia," Churkin said. "There was something missing in the entire puzzle."
Churkin said Moscow stands ready to thoroughly investigate the incident.
"We are prepared to get international experts involved in the
investigation," Churkin said. "It's not an isolated incident, but a
culmination of actions by the Georgian side which has been building up tensions
in the zone of conflict, sending up reinforcement and military equipment."
Churkin said Russia has been urging the security council to prevent bloodshed
over the dispute in Abkhazia.
The council met at the request of Georgian UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania, who
said the drone was shot down by the Russian military aircraft over the territory of Abkhazia on April 20 2008.
Alasania also denounced Russian interference into Georgia because the peacekeeping
mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Abkhazia, once comprised
of former Soviet republics, had become solely Russian. Alasania said Georgia had demanded that the mission be shifted to an international police force rather
than a Russian force.
Alasania also invited UN Security Council members to visit the Abkhazia region,
which has fought the government in Tbilisi and demanded an autonomous status, dpa reported.
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