By empty (8/27/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a 27 August statement that it will not participate in any further bilateral talks with Georgia on either military issues or the proposed framework treaty on bilateral relations as long as nightly protests continue outside its embassy in Tbilisi. Since 19 August, Georgian computer enthusiasts have been projecting insulting slogans onto the facade of the embassy building every night and playing Georgian national melodies at full volume. The Russian Foreign Ministry statement characterized the Georgian authorities\' failure to take any measures to halt those protests a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

By empty (8/26/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

South Ossetian government spokeswoman Irina Gagloeva accused Tbilisi on 26 August of sending 60 special forces troops to the South Ossetian conflict zone in violation of the 19 August agreement under which Russia, Georgia, and South Ossetia pledged to withdraw all forces except for 500 peacekeepers each. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Guram Donadze rejected that allegation and offered to launch a joint inspection with the South Ossetian side of the Djava District where the forces in question were allegedly deployed. (Caucasus Press).

By empty (8/26/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Speaking on 26 August in Batumi where he attended a government meeting the previous day, Mikheil Saakashvili criticized the Russian military exercises under way at the Gonio firing range near Batumi, which he claimed are inconveniencing tens of thousands of tourists, many of them from abroad, who are currently vacationing at Black Sea resorts. He warned that if Moscow does not voluntarily close its military base at Batumi by the spring of 2005, \"we shall force them to leave.\" (Caucasus Press).