During the conversation, the theme of which was the serious and tragic consequences of the crisis and worsening situation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, the President of Russia described the actions of the Georgian leadership, as they carried out a perfidious and unprovoked attack on Tskhinvali, as an aggressive military action against Russian peacekeepers and civilians.
In light of the losses incurred by the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the numerous victims among the population of South Ossetia, Russia, as it implements a peacekeeping mission in accordance with existing international agreements, will take adequate military and political measures for the immediate cessation of violence and to protect civilians including women, children and the elderly, most of whom are citizens of the Russian Federation.
The only possible and reasonable way out of this situation is the withdrawal of Georgian troops to their initial positions and the immediate signing of a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force. Only after this measure has been taken will it be possible to talk about further measures to de-escalate the tensions.
The Chancellor of Germany expressed profound concern over the situation, the hope for an accelerated and complete cessation of hostilities, the resumption of the negotiating contacts, and her willingness to contribute to this process by political-diplomatic means.
Dmitry Medvedev and Angela Merkel agreed to continue their discussion of this problem as well as a broad range of issues of mutual interest during the upcoming visit of the Federal Chancellor of Germany to Russia on 15 August 2008.
The conversation was held at German initiative.