Statement by Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Situation in Georgia and South Ossetia

September 9, 2008

On September 8, French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Russia to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and others. They agreed on the withdrawal of the Russian troops to the lines before the outbreak of hostilities, the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism including at least 200 monitors from EU, and the opening of international talks on the security and stability arrangements in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to be held in October 15 this year in Geneva.
Japan has supported consistently a peaceful resolution of this issue based on the principle of territorial integrity in accordance with international law. It highly values the results of this visit as a positive progress toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Georgia.
Since immediately after the conflict started, Japan has consistently supported EU’s mediation efforts for peace made by the initiative of President Sarkozy. Japan considers it important that the agreement will be implemented on the ground without fail, and will continue to pay close attention to the situation.
It was agreed that international talks would start on October 15 this year on the security and stability of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Japan expects that the issues concerning South Ossetia and Abkhazia will be solved in a manner that can be accepted by the international community through the international talks.

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