DUSHANBE, August 13, 2008, Asia-Plus — Georgia’s intention to quit the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will not affect the CIS unified air-defense system, participants at the ongoing session of the coordinating committee for air defense within the CIS council of defense ministers in Dushanbe remarked yesterday evening, commenting on a statement of Georgian President Micheil Saakashvili that Georgia will quit the CIS.
Speaking to reporters, Chief of Russia’s Academy for Military-Cosmic (Space) Defense, Lieutenant-General Oleg Balayan, said that Georgia has never played any key role in the CIS air-defense system.
Asked about the South Ossetia conflict and its possible effects, the session participants said that they are not authorized to make any statements on this issue.
Russia’s representative just said that the operation had been finished and the Russian Federation is not going to seize another’s territory.
We will recall that Georgia’s president yesterday told tens of thousands of people at a rally outside the country”s parliament that Georgia will quit the CIS and urged Ukraine to follow suit.
