Georgia in drone flight controversy

Russia hit back at Georgia yesterday over the shooting down of a spy drone saying the unmanned Georgian flight over the breakaway region of Abkhazia breached United Nations ceasefire agreements. Russia's Foreign Ministry said the drone had been shot down by separatist forces in Abkhazia. The Russian air force denied Georgian claims a Russian fighter had downed the craft.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Monday clashed publicly with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the incident, just two weeks after Nato promised the small Caucasus state it would one day become a member of the military alliance.

Russia, opposed to Nato expansion closer to its borders, said last week it was forging closer ties with Georgia's two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Tbilisi lost control over the areas after separatist wars in the 1990s.

"This flight by the reconnaissance plane, which can also be used for guiding fire, is a violation of both the Moscow ceasefire and force separation agreement of May 14, 1994, and a corresponding resolution of the United Nations Security Council regarding the mandate of the UN observation mission in Georgia," the ministry said.

The 1994 Moscow agreement says parties should scrupulously observe the ceasefire on land, sea and in the air, and "refrain from all military actions against each other".