'Occupied territories' term inapplicable to Abkhazia, South Ossetia - Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry thinks it is impermissible to describe Abkhazia and South Ossetia as 'occupied territories'.
"The discussion of legal connotations of the terms 'occupation' and 'occupied territories' initiated by South Ossetian representatives and reports made by independent international humanitarian law experts showed that those terms were absolutely inapplicable to the Russian military contingents and bases deployed in the territories of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia," the ministry said, following a regular round of the Geneva consultations on security in the South Caucasus held on June 7-8.
"Representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia posted a joint statement, which urged subjects of international law to abstain from using the term 'occupation' as regard the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia because the term was unfounded from the legal and practical points of view," the ministry said.
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