A warning has been issued to Russia by NATO concerning its build-up of troops in two Georgian breakaway regions – South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Such a troop concentration, said the alliance, effectively weakens Georgian territorial integrity.

According to a spokesman for NATO, local tensions have had consequent cause to rise.

Georgia Planning Invasion: Russia

Russia has said that Georgia is planning to carry out an invasion of Abkhazia, adding that it will strengthen its troop deployment both there and in South Ossetia.

"The steps that have been taken [by Russia] and the rhetoric have increased tensions and undermined Georgia's territorial integrity", James Appathurai, spokesman for NATO, said.

He added that Moscow and its Georgian equivalent, Tbilisi, should avoid heated verbal exchanges.

Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the UN Security Council, said on the 30^th April that the US was “concerned about reports from the region.”

The EU, meanwhile, has called for caution to be exercised. Deploying more troops to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, it said, would not be wise amidst the present tensions.

Recently, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, highlighted the prospect of “retaliatory measures” to be enacted if Georgia used violence against either of the two regions.

According to Russia, a 1,500-strong mixed Georgian police/ soldier force was being built up in the sole area of Abkhazia that the government still has control over – the upper Kodori Gorge.

Russian Peacekeeping Troops

Consequently, said Russia, it was strengthening the level of Russian peacekeeping troops it presently has stationed in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia.

Russia, said Lavrov, has a duty to look after Russian nationals in the regions.

Georgia, however, has denied claims of it having amassed members of its armed forces, and, as far as it is concerned, Russia is being provocative.

"We think that this step, if they take it, will cause extreme destabilisation in the region," Lado Gurgenidze, Georgia’s Prime Minister, said.

He added: "From now on, we consider every [Russian] soldier or any unit of military equipment coming in [to the two regions] as illegal, potential aggressors and potential generators of destabilisation."

At present, around 2,000 Russian soldiers are deployed in Abkhazia.

1,000 more are in South Ossetia.

UAV Shoot-down Claims

Russian/Georgia relations have taken a recent downturn, most noticeably after claims of a Russian Air Force jet fighter having shot down a Georgian UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle).

Source – Armed Forces International’s East European Correspondent

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