Europe

Home page

Europe

NATO Secretary General: â€œThe option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptableâ€

15 September 2008 14:07 (UTC +04:00)

Brussels â€“ APA. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called the deal brokered by the European Union for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia as â€œnot acceptableâ€. In an interview with the Financial Times, the Secretary General said the agreement reached during French President Nicolas Sarkozyâ€™s visit to Moscow cedes too much ground to Moscow. He said he was against the Russian troopsâ€™ presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He said it was in direct contravention of an earlier six-point plan engineered by President Sarkozy which called for a return to the status quo before the conflict broke out. â€œIf the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo,â€ he said. â€œThe option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptable.â€
NATO Secretary General said he would stand by its decision to suspend regular meetings of ambassadors from NATO and Russia as long as Russian troops remained in the two breakaway regions.