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Georgia says Russia violates airspace, Russia denies
Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:11PM EDT

By Niko Mchedlishvili

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia on Wednesday accused Russian military jets of violating its airspace for a second time this month, but Russia said its aircraft had been nowhere near Georgian frontiers.

Georgia made the allegation two weeks after it had accused a Russian jet of dropping a missile in a farmer's field 65 km (40 miles) from Tbilisi, an incident that worsened already tense relations between the ex-Soviet neighbors.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Internet site that on Tuesday that Russian aircraft had crossed 5 km (3 miles) into Georgia near its Black Sea coast and adjacent to the rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia.

Most of that region is controlled by separatists, but the foreign ministry said the overflight was in a corner of Abkhazia under Georgian control. Moscow-backed Abkhazia is a regular source of tension between Georgia and Russia.

"There have been nine of these cases in the last three months and in one incident they dropped a missile," Georgian Deputy Defence Minister Batu Kuteliya told Reuters.

"What the aim is, I don't know."

Kuteliya said he did not know if the incident involved one or two planes, but Georgia has said they crossed into its airspace near the Kodori George, a disputed region where in March a missile hit a village. Georgia blamed that incident on Russia, which Moscow has also denied.

Russia's Defence Ministry chief spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov told Reuters: "On the date mentioned by Georgia the planes of the Russian air force did not fly near to the Georgian border."

"POLITICAL TSUNAMI"

In New York, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin accused Georgia of fabricating the missile incident this month in the hope of creating a "political tsunami."

On Wednesday, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze called his comments "shameless Soviet diplomacy" and Georgia's ambassador to the United Nations, Irakli Alasania, rejected Churkin's allegations as "totally groundless".

"We have to take an absolutely resolute and non-negotiable stance in the face of efforts to use military force to destabilize a democratic state, and to attempt to influence its domestic and foreign policy," Alasania said.

Relations between Russia and Georgia have been in a state of crisis since U.S.-educated President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in Tbilisi three years ago and moved his republic of five million people out of Moscow's orbit.

Russia last year severed air, sea and postal links with its southern neighbor over a spying row. Before that, Moscow had banned imports of Georgian wine and mineral water, both major sources of revenue, citing health concerns.

The missile incident earlier this month has had repercussions beyond the region, turning into an irritant in ties between Russia and the United States.

Washington, a close Tbilisi ally, condemned what it called an attack on Georgia. Moscow hit back this week, saying it was disappointed at the United States for its "haste" in taking Georgia's side.

Georgia has accused Russia of trespassing in its airspace on several occasions in the past, but the issue has become highly sensitive since the missile incident.

Georgia says Russia violates airspace, Russia denies (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2287539920070822?sp=true)