The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed Tbilisi’s claims that the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone is providing arms to South Ossetian militia groups.

The Georgian Interior Ministry has also accused South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity and his government members of patronizing criminal groups engaged in smuggling, kidnapping and arms trafficking. Both Russian and South Ossetian sides have already described these allegations as “absurd.”

“This is one more 'black PR action' aimed at discrediting Russian peacekeepers, as well as the South Ossetian leadership. This policy of official Tbilisi fuels tension in the conflict zone and seriously complicates the negotiating process, as well as the atmosphere in Russian-Georgian relationship,” Spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kaminin said in an information note issued on November 30.

“Such information can only cause a sense of disappointment,” Kaminin added.