The President of Russia met with President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity. The two leaders discussed implementing joint projects to restore the republic’s economy and social services.
Speaking about the prospects for bilateral relations, Dmitry Medvedev pointed out the need to maintain cooperation in the area of defence.
Mr Kokoity thanked Mr Medvedev for his visit and introduced the President of Russia to members of the Government of South Ossetia.
The Russian President visited the city, which was destroyed during the armed conflict of August 2008. In particular, Mr Medvedev visited the buildings housing the nation’s parliament and public school #5. Aza Bestayeva, the director of the school, told Dmitry Medvedev that classes in the reconstructed building will resume normally on September 1, 2009.
The President also laid flowers at the memorial for victims of the 1992 Georgian-Ossetian military conflict.
Together with President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity, Dmitry Medvedev visited a Russian military base in Tskhinval and surveyed the combat vehicles, barracks, and the dining hall there.
Commander of the North Caucasus Military District Sergei Makarov reported to President Medvedev on the tasks and functions of the military base and its performance. The military base headquartered in Tskhinval is part of the 58th Army, a field army of the Russian ground forces stationed in the North Caucasus Military District, and is deployed in three locations in South Ossetia and North Ossetia (a republic within the Russian Federation).