Occupied territories of Georgia
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held its annual session in Monaco on 9 July 2012. It passed a resolution supporting Georgia, and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories. The resolution urged the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, and the "de facto" authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission access to the occupied territories. It also said that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was “concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia, and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living”. Russian Foreign Ministry reacted harshly, saying that "the majority of deputies in the Assembly (parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE) once again don't wish to objectively accept the realities of the situation today in the Caucasus."
Timeline of the Russo-Georgian War
Alexander Lomaya, Secretary of National Security Council of Georgia, had said conflict began because Russia aimed to "thwart its neighbors’ movement toward Western society and Western values", adding "If the world is not able to stop Russia here, then Russian tanks and Russian paratroopers can appear in every European capital." Georgian officials admitted that Russian reaction surprised them. "The New York Times" stated that Russia "appeared determined to occupy both South Ossetia and Abkhazia." "The New York Times" reported that Georgian President Saakashvili had said that Georgia was in a state of war and Russia planned to occupy strategic economic infrastructure and to depose his government. However, when Anatoly Nogovitsyn, colonel general in the Russian Ministry of Defense, was asked whether Russia was in a state of war, he replied that was not the case. Georgian health minister had said that Georgian casualties were more than 80, 40 of which were civilians killed in the bombing of Gori. Georgian officials had said the conflict would end if the United States intervened, however they were counting on the Western diplomatic outcry to impact Russia.