Georgia says Russia planning "military intervention" in South Ossetia

Text of report by Georgian TV station Rustavi-2 on 14 July

[Presenter] We begin the programme with a live broadcast from the Foreign Ministry where [Gela] Bezhuashvili's department is issuing another statement about the terrorist attack in Tskhinvali [South Ossetia]. Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze is addressing the briefing.

[Antadze] Welcome. You probably know that there was yet another explosion in Tskhinvali today. There are casualties.

I say with full responsibility that such actions are categorically unacceptable to us. We express our support and sympathy for the families affected by the explosions.

We are trying with every means at our disposal to investigate this incident and take measures to ensure those responsible for this terrible act are punished.

It is deeply concerning not only that the business interests of certain individuals within the South Ossetian de-facto government are settled in this manner - we have grounds to say that in this case that was the motive behind the incident - but it is also deeply concerning that Russia, together with the Tskhinvali separatist regime, is planning and carrying out such actions and acts of provocation in the Tskhinvali region to achieve its own aims.

Their aim is already clear to everyone. Next there will be military escalation, acts of provocation such as this and then, with the justification of protecting Russian citizens, there will be Russian military intervention in Georgia.

It is unfortunate but the situation is extremely tense. Recent hysterical statements in the [Russian] media claiming that Georgia is preparing for military action are designed to justify the actions which Russia has planned and which are aimed, as I have said, at provoking serious military confrontation. The most recent statement on this issue was Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov's statement in which he said that in the conflict zone, the Tskhinvali region, 90 per cent of residents are Russian citizens and Russia will take every appropriate measure, in this case it means military action, to defend the rights of Russian citizens.

Naturally, the question arises of how these people acquired citizenship of a neighbouring country, how 90 per cent of the local population became Russian citizens so quickly. The answer to that is clear. These are illegal actions, actions which can be described as annexation.

Today the Georgian Foreign Ministry issued another statement in which it appealed to [word indistinct] to refrain from military rhetoric and such actions. We have also appealed to the international community with a request that they apply serious pressure to ensure that the situation in the region does not escalate and to prevent an unwanted course of events.