YUSHCHENKO URGES NEW PEACEKEEPING FORCE FOR CAUCASUS
Interfax
Aug 20 2008
Russia
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said that it is necessary to
come up with new peacekeeping mechanisms for the Caucasus.Yushchenko
was speaking at a joint press conference with Romanian President
Traian Basescu in Kyiv on Wednesday.
"I’m sure that it is necessary to create new peacekeeping mechanisms
to guarantee security in the region, including the Caucasus," he said.
He said the Caucasian events showed that peacekeeping forces
are inefficient. Yuschenko noted the need for serious work to
internationalize peacekeeping forces.
Yushchenko said that everything should be done to avoid repeating
the South Ossetian scenario in other frozen conflict zones.
"We should do everything to avoid such a scenario in other frozen
conflict zones," he said.
Yushchenko listed Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and Transdniestria
among such zones.
He recalled that Ukraine does not recognize the military solution
of conflicts.
"We should make it very clear that we support territorial integrity
of any state," Yushchenko said.
He said Ukraine and Romania share the same position on the settlement
of the Georgian situation. He noted that the recognition of Georgia’s
territorial integrity should become a key principle.
The president voiced concern over the slow implementation of the
Russian-Georgian peace agreements, including the withdrawal of Russian
troops from Georgia.
Basescu, in turn, said the conflict should be settled on the basis
of a peace plan proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.