Lavrov: Operation in South Ossetia different from NATO attack on Serbia in 1999
The Russian operation in South Ossetia was different from the NATO attack on Serbia in 1999 over Kosovo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, August 22, 2008
In an article for the Wall Street Jounal, the Russian
foreign minister writes that in 1999, once the NATO air bombardment campaign
ran out of military targets, "it degenerated into attacks on bridges, TV
towers, passenger trains and other civilian sites, even hitting an embassy."
In this instance, Russia used force in full conformity with international law,
its right to self-defense, and its obligations under agreements with regard to
conflict in South Ossetia.
"Russia could not allow its peacekeepers to watch acts of genocide
committed in front of their eyes, as happened in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica
in 1995," Lavrov states.
The minister praised the Russian military and says that it acted efficiently
and professionally. "It was an able ground operation that quickly achieved its
very clear and legitimate objectives," writes Lavrov.
