U.S. Criticizes South Ossetia Leader
March 23, 2006
South Ossetia President Eduard Kokoity said the breakaway republic may ask to join Russia (file photo) (epa)
Julie Finley, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, reaffirmed the United States' "unequivocal support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia."
In comments yesterday, South Ossetian separatist leader Eduard Kokoity said South Ossetia will lodge a petition with the Russian Constitutional Court because, he said, "there are historical documents about Ossetia's status as part of Russia."
South Ossetia, which has close ties with Moscow, forcibly won de facto independence from Georgia in the early 1990s.
Finley said Washington believed Russia could do more to help peacefully resolve the conflict.
(AP)