Moscow/Agency Caucasus – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a joint meeting in Moscow on Tuesday with the foreign ministers of both South Ossetia, Murat Jioyev, and of Abkhazia, Sergei Shamba.
The three foreign ministers reached a joint agreement of friendship, cooperation and mutual aid, intended as a collaborative battle against crime and drug trafficking. The three countries will jointly act to defend their frontiers from enemy attacks. They will also help each other to make customs affairs easier.
Russian troops would be deployed in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia according to a deal signed between Russia and the two other republics, Russia’s Defense Minister Anatoli Serdyukov said in a statement. The Russian administration will station some of its troops in the South Ossetian areas of Java and Tskhinval. Other Russian troops will be situated in parts of Abkhazia where Russian peacekeeping forces used to be deployed formerly.
ÖZ/
