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Russia calls for arms embargo against Georgia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-01 19:36

MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday called for an arms embargo against Georgia which is getting military assistance from the United States.

"It would be correct to impose an embargo on arms supplies to this regime, pending the arrival of new authorities who will turn Georgia into a normal state," Lavrov said in a speech broadcast live on local TV.

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"In order to guarantee the region against relapses of violence, (Russia will) take measures to punish those guilty and to ensure that this regime will never commit evil again," Lavrov said.

In early August, Georgia sent in troops to reclaim South Ossetia, its breakaway region, triggering a military counter-offensive from Russia. The conflict ended with a ceasefire agreement between Tbilisi and Moscow brokered by France.

However, tensions between the two nations were heightened as Russia recognized the self-proclaimed independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia, last Tuesday.

"We will cooperate closely with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations in a bid to safeguard the security for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as promised in the ceasefire agreement," Lavrov noted.