Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 23, 2003
Russia denies its troops involved in Georgia events
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russian troops stationed in Georgia were not interfering in the present turmoil in that Caucasus country.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russian troops stationed in Georgia were not interfering in the present turmoil in that Caucasus country.
"The Russian forces group in the Transcaucasus is not interfering in the events in Tbilisi and considers them an internal matter of the Republic of Georgia," a ministry spokesman told Interfax.
"All the military units and groups are in their places of permanent stationing and are carrying out their routine daily activities," he said.
The ministry's statement came after Georgian opposition supporters seized control of the parliament building Saturday afternoon when President Eduard Shevardnadze was giving a speech to the deputies of the newly elected parliament.
Russia is a key power in the volatile Caucasus region, and has maintained troops in Georgia since the Soviet era.