Tskhinvali, 4 February: Georgian acting (as received) Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze's statement that Georgia will not sign an agreement on non-use of force with Abkhazia and South Ossetia marks a continuation of the policy that Georgia has been pursuing over recent years, South Ossetian foreign minister Murat Dzhioyev has told Interfax.

He said that, even before the events of August 2008 (Georgia-Russia war), "we raised this issue on numerous occasions at the level of international organizations so that they would exert pressure on Georgia to sign a memorandum on non-aggression and non-use of force, but Georgia refused to do so, evidently because it was preparing for the August aggression against South Ossetia."

Dzhioyev stressed that after August, South Ossetia has said several times that it deems necessary the signing of a treaty and memorandum on the non-use of force. In his words, this was voiced in South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoyty's address to the people and the parliament of 26 December 2008.

"South Ossetia is ready to build good-neighbourly relations with Georgia and expects Georgia to take a pragmatic approach and take the only right decision: to recognize the independence of the republic of South Ossetia and sign an agreement on the non-use of force in the process of establishing bilateral relations," Dzhioyev said.

He added that the issue should be discussed first and foremost by the international organizations that undertook the obligation to guarantee the fulfilment of the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan (EU-brokered Georgia-Russia cease-fire agreement of 12 August 2008).

"I think that Grigol Vashadze's statement requires special attention; measures should be taken so that a new war does not break out in the Caucasus," the minister added.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Georgia's acting (as received) foreign minister, Grigol Vashadze, said that Georgia would not be the first to sign a treaty on non-use of force with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as Russia has been demanding from the Georgian authorities.